Rogue Justice
by Jack Grey Logan
Summary: Since he was a child, all Naruto Namikaze wanted was to join the Marines and become a hero like his legendary father, Admiral Minato Namikaze. However, he will slowly learned that not all marines are good guys and not all pirates are bad guys, which help developed his senses of justice, yet in a renegade and rare way.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Departing Leaf Island**

 **Leaf Island**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

"Hey Sakura," Naruto D. Namikaze yelled from the ground below the window to her second story room. "Sakura are you there?"

"Sakura!" he yelled again when he didn't receive a prompt enough reply.

A few moments later, the window opened and a pretty pink haired girl, stuck her head out the window.

"What are you yelling about this time?" she asked him, but thankfully he didn't notice any real irritation in her voice.

Naruto had learned long ago that calling for Sakura in this manner too early in the morning wasn't good for his health. And although he'd held off until 9:30, that was still a somewhat risky time. But given how important today's news was he couldn't bring himself to wait any longer.

"I came to say goodbye," he informed her. "I'm leaving the island today to join the marines."

"What's all that's racket, Sakura?" A voice called out from somewhere behind Sakura.

"It's Naruto, mom" she replied. "He came to say he's leaving to join the marines."

"Again?" her mother inquired. "Well, tell him I'm serving unagi tonight and he's welcome to eat with us when he gets back."

"She makes it sound like she doesn't believe I'll go through with it," Naruto complained to Sakura. "I'll have you know I'm completely serious."

"We know you're serious," Sakura told him. "But you've tried this about a dozen times in the last ten years and Mayor Sarutobi and his wife has caught you every time. With a boat docked here, you know he'll have it watched."

"It's different this time," Naruto insisted. "I have a plan that's sure to work. So if you have anything to say to me, say it now. It might be a long time before we see each other again."

"Okay, goodbye Naruto. See you for dinner," she told him cheerfully.

Annoyed, Naruto turned around and stalked off, Sakura laughing at his antics as he departed. They may doubt him, but he'd been planning this attempt for a while and he wasn't about to fail again. He was getting off of Leaf Island.

It's not that he had anything against the island, a community island town with a population of 500 people who felt positively confining to Naruto. He had much bigger dreams than possibly replacing the old man as mayor some day. And sure he'd miss Sakura. Having been the only other kid his age growing up, they'd become friends almost by default. But there was a whole world of exciting people to meet and things to do.

And today it would all start he promised himself. He'd wear his favorite outfit to commemorate the occasion, a white shirt and white pants. The shirt had blue seagull designs on its sleeves. It wasn't an official Marine uniform, but it was his personal tribute to his career choice.

As he walked along he passed a number of houses. Given the size of their village, they didn't have a professional carpenter or a town planner. So the houses were built somewhat haphazardly rather than in a neat line. They weren't always of the best construction either. At some point before Naruto was born, someone had decided to put in a cobblestone road that sort of zigzagged between the buildings. Even that wasn't as well maintained as it could be.

It didn't take him long to come upon a small warehouse on the edge of the village. It was even cruder than most of the houses, actually having a thatched roof of all things. Sneaking inside as quietly as he could, he closed the door behind him. Then grabbing an empty crate from the back, he moved it next to a large pile of similar crates near the entrance. Opening the top he climbed inside and closed it behind him.

Previously he'd always tried to sneak directly onto the ship. But as Sakura had said, the old man was sure to have it watched. But if he hid among the cargo the village was selling to that merchant ship, they'd carry him on board themselves and he'd appear to be nothing more than another box of goods.

He didn't have to wait long before he heard the door open and soon after felt his crate being lifted. He remained as motionless as he could, barely daring to breath. But after what seemed like an eternity to Naruto's frayed nerves, the box was set down. He then waited what must have been twenty minutes listening for any other movement.

Finally, he decided to risk lifting the lid to peak out—only to find himself staring at the amusing face of Mayor Hiruzen Sarutobi and his angry wife, Biwako Sarutobi.

"What are you two—OWW!"

He was cut off when Biwako hit him in the head, creating a large bump.

"In case you are wondering," Biwako lectures him. "We're back in our house. We have you followed. So when you tried your little stunt, we just had you carried here."

Looking around Naruto confirmed this to be the case. They were in the Sarutobi House. Displeases, Naruto was forced to get out of the box.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was a man in his late 60s. His skin is lighter, his hair is grey, his face is gaunter, and he has the wrinkles and liver spots of old age. He was dressed in his working clothes. Dark blue pants and shirt that were probably cotton, like every piece of clothing someone didn't trade for from outside the island. With its small population Leaf Island didn't even warrant a full time position for a mayor.

His wife Biwako Sarutobi appeared younger than her husband, despite begin in her late age, although she seemed to be as wise and intelligent as her husband, giving somewhat sage-like advice. Yet a difference between them is that Biwako acts sterner and strict which makes everyone on the island very wary of her.

Why do you two keep stopping me?" Naruto asked accusingly.

"Because with your father gone, we're your guardians and we're not about to let you run off without understanding the full implications of your actions." Biwako replied in a stern tone

"I may have bought that story in the past, but I'm 17 now," Naruto retorted. "I do understand the risks involved. Yes being a marine can get me killed, and this island is on the grand line, so it's even more dangerous. I know all that."

"Is that so—and what about the risk to the rest of the village?" Biwako questioned him on that subject. "Many of them have expressed concerns to us about your desires to leave. Considering what happened after your father left, I can't say I blame them."

"That had nothing to do with him!" Naruto insisted angrily. "If it was really some curse because a villager left the island, why did it happen more than five years after he left? I'm not going to stay here because of a bunch of superstitious villagers who should be grateful my father came back to save them after how they treated him!"

"Perhaps," Biwako said. "But I still can't understand why you are so hell-bent in joining the Marines. You act as if the Marines are the most awesome thing in the world, but you're just too stupid and too impatient to see the truth about them.

Naruto was about to retort when Hiruzen cuts in and says "Biwako why don't you excuse us for a moment. Let me talk to Naruto alone, will you?"

Biwako was quiet for a moment until she says "All right then—just tries to talk some sense into him, especially his stupid dream of joining the Marines. It seems he like when I hit him the head so many times."

After she was gone, Naruto begins to complained "What is with her old man?"

"Pleases forgive her Naruto," said Hiruzen. "But Biwako has a close relationship to your father than her own sons. Since his death she always scared you'll ended up like him."

"I can take care of myself," Naruto said out loud. "Why can't the two of you and everyone on this island understand that?"

"We still don't feel you're ready to make that decision yourself," Hiruzen told him. "But if you'll calm down a little, I have something for you I do think you're old enough for now."

"What's that?" Naruto asked, curiosity tempering his anger at least for the moment.

Motioning Naruto to follow, he led him to a mid-sized wooden chest in a corner of the room.

"This was found on your father's ship after he died," Hiruzen told him.

"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly, then narrowed his eyes and looked accusingly at the old man. "Why didn't you give this to me before now?"

"You were too young," he responded. "We didn't feel right opening it myself, but for all we know it could be full of guns and swords. I would be irresponsible giving that to a young child. And more recently we were just afraid that whatever was in there would only reinforce that foolish notion of yours of joining the marines. But you're old enough now that you deserve to have it."

"I'm going to go open this. Thanks old man," Naruto told him then quickly grabbed the chest and rushed out of the room.

If it had been any larger, it would have been awkward to carry. But as it was, Naruto was able to make a decent pace while still trying not to jostle the contents too much. He was nearly to his house when he saw Sakura walking down the street toward him.

"Back already?" she asked him. "I take it things didn't go as planned?"

"Not exactly, but there'll be other ships," Naruto replied optimistically.

"You're taking it surprisingly well this time," Sakura noted, then focused her attention on his newest prize.

"Isn't that chest from the mayor's office?" she asked him, frowning a bit at whatever picture her mind was putting together of the events that led to him taking possession of it.

"You didn't steal it to get back at him for stopping you, did you?" she queried, the note of disapproval now clear in her voice.

"No, he gave it to me," Naruto corrected her cheerfully. "He says it belonged to my father. I'm bringing it home to see what's inside."

"Well, it makes sense he would choose today to give it to you," Sakura replied.

"What do mean by that?" Naruto asked, wracking his brain for any reason why today would be special but not coming up with anything.

"You must not have heard," she told him. "The merchants decided to relax in the bar for a bit after finishing their business. In addition to that, a marine ship just entered the bay. They're just staying long enough to stock up on provisions and then they're leaving."

"A Marine ship?" Naruto repeated enthusiastically. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we almost never have two ships here at the same time. He probably wanted to distract you for a few hours until they've left since it'd be harder to guard both of them."

That did sound just like the old man too. Naruto was tempted to head to the bay right at that moment just to spite him. But even if it was playing into his hands, Naruto couldn't leave without seeing what was in the chest.

"Thanks, Sakura," he told her sincerely. "I'll just have to finish going through this before they leave. So I can't waste any more time talking."

With that he rushed off down the cobblestone path through the center of the town until he reached his house. It was a small single story building left to him by his father. Setting down the chest, he opened the door, slid the chest inside and let the door close behind him. Wasting no time he opened the lid and began going through the contents.

Looking inside he saw a small telescope sitting atop one of his father's marine uniforms. Moving the uniform he spotted three log poses. Although on closer inspection two of them were eternal poses. One was labeled Marinford, and the other had 'Leaf Island' scrawled on it. That last one must have cost his father quite a bit. Custom made eternal poses weren't cheap, and he highly doubted anyone else would have cared enough to make one for their little backwater island.

The final item in the chest was another, much smaller chest. Naruto quickly pulled it out and opened the lid. But he certainly wasn't expecting to see a piece of fruit in it. Was the mayor playing a joke on him? There was no way a piece of fruit would sit in that chest for more than a decade without rotting.

Actually, there was one way. The fruit was unlike any he'd ever seen before. Sort of shaped like a pear, but red in color with purple spots. Could it be a devil fruit? Almost as soon as the possibility occurred to him, Naruto made up his mind. Grabbing the fruit he took a large bite out of it. The flavor was pretty unpleasant, but he ignored it and finished off the rest of the fruit. He left nothing behind as it seemed to lack a stem or core of any sort.

Thoughts of what amazing new power he might have received were swirling through his mind, but Naruto pushed them aside to focus on trying to confirm he actually had eaten a devil fruit. Those who had eaten one were supposed to be unable to swim. But risking drowning didn't seem like the best way to find out, and he didn't want anyone else to know about this just yet anyway.

He knew some devil fruit users could transform their bodies, so he decided to try that first. He attempted to will his body to transform in some way, but after several minutes of that, nothing had happened. Well, maybe he could shoot something out of his hands or something like that?

Refocusing his will on trying to emit something, he felt some sort of energy stirring in his body. Willing the energy to move, he felt it almost leap out of him. Looking toward where it went, he examined the result of his efforts and smiled. This had a lot of potential.

 **0o0o0**

 **1 Hour Later**

Naruto sat looking out his window with the telescope he'd found in the chest. He had a good view of the bay from there and could see that both ships were now preparing to leave. Still he waited a little longer; he'd have to time this almost perfectly. The marine shipped finished preparations first, and Naruto saw them getting ready to raise anchor. It was time to put his plan into action.

Slipping out his window, he began to dash towards the marine vessel. It was larger than most ships that came to port, being more than twice the size of the merchant ship docket a couple hundred yards from it. Just seeing the seagull painted on the ship's flag gave Naruto an extra burst of energy as he ran, determined that today would finally be the day he joined.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a villager running after him. Naruto grinned to himself realizing his speed had forced the man to abandon his attempts at stealth. But his smile vanished when he noticed that despite his best efforts, the man was slowly gaining on him. He just hoped he could stay ahead of him long enough.

As he approached the ship, he saw a second villager moving to intercept him, but Naruto continued to run for the ship. He was only about a dozen feet from the second man, with the first having closed the distance to about half that, when he took the two spherical objects he'd been holding in his hands and threw one at each man.

The smoke bombs went off, obscuring them from view, and in the confusion, Naruto made a sharp turn to the left and changed course toward the merchant vessel. The two men who had been chasing him did not immediately give pursuit thanks to the smokescreen. He'd traversed most of the 200 yards when still another man attempted to intercept him.

He prepared a third smoke bomb for the man who must have been assigned to watch this ship and threw it at his feet. But this one was prepared for the tactic and continued through the smoke only to seize Naruto by the arm. The other two men quickly caught up and surrounded him. All three of them began talking over each other trying to berate him for his latest escape attempt. But Naruto tuned them out, smiling to himself. Then, in a puff of smoke, he vanished.

 **0o0o0**

Meanwhile the real Naruto was already racing toward the marine ship that had begun to pull out to sea. This was cutting it kind of close, it was going to be difficult to reach the ship and he didn't exactly have the option of swimming out to it. He was only a few yards from the shore when his clone's memories integrated into his own. Ignoring them, he ran the last few yards at top speed, and then leaped toward the departing ship with all his might. He felt a moment of fear seeing all that water beneath him, but it passed as soon as his feet landed solidly on the deck.

This startled a number of the marines on the deck who obviously hadn't been expecting his last second arrival and he found more than a few guns suddenly pointed at him.

"Who are you? What are you doing on board?" One of the uniformed marines demanded of him.

"Relax men," another voice called out. "It doesn't look like he means us any harm."

Turning toward the voice he saw a large bearded man wearing an officer's coat over a suit. The other marines followed his orders and lowered their guns.

"Yeah, I'm here to enlist," Naruto told them cautiously, much happier with the guns no longer aimed at him and not wanting to do anything that would lead to them returning to their previous positions. "Are you the Captain?"

"That I am," he replied jovially. "Now would you mind telling me why you felt the need to make such a flashy entrance?"

"Most of the villagers are superstitious," Naruto replied. "They don't like to let anyone leave the island. But it's always been my dream to join the marines like my father did, so I wasn't about to let that stop me."

"I think I've heard of that superstition before," the Captain said thoughtfully. "Wait a minute; I knew Leaf Island sounded familiar. You're Admiral Minato D. Namikaze, the Yellow Flash's son aren't you?"

"That's right," Naruto confirmed proudly. "Naruto D. Namikaze, reporting for duty, sir."

"Well then," the Captain said, "if you turn out to be half the man your father was, it'd be nothing short of dereliction of duty if I stopped you from joining."

"Oops, sorry about that," the Captain added bashfully, realizing what he'd just said. "Sorry—bad choice of words—I didn't mean to bring that up."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto told the man.

"I must say that was quite the jump to get on here," he said, obviously wanting to change the subject. "You must have had a lot of training already."

"That was nothing," Naruto boasted. "We're a small island in the middle a major route on the grand line. Everyone is taught to defend themselves. I've been helping fight off pirates for years."

"Good to hear," the Captain told him, back to his cheerful demeanor already. "I'd wager you have a bright future ahead of you. Marinford isn't too far out of our way. I'll have you there in no time. Then you can start your official training."

This was turning out to be a near perfect day for Naruto. He only wished he could see the old man's face when he figured out that the chest he'd given Naruto had been the very thing that made his escape possible.

 **0o0o0**

Hiruzen stood watching the ship depart through a pair of binoculars. Had the fruit's power been teleportation? Or maybe some type of illusion? Whatever it was, it would certainly aid the boy in his endeavors. And the villagers could hardly blame him…although he knew wife will be extremely upset with him.

After all, how was he supposed to know Naruto would have access to a devil fruit? It's not like he'd given it to the boy or anything, right? Sarutobi chuckled a bit at that, taking his pipe out of his pocket and lighting it.

"Good luck, Naruto," he said out loud. "Make your father proud."

 **Devil Fruit**

 **Jūfuku Jūfuku No Mi** **(Duplication Duplication Fruit):** The Jūfuku Jūfuku No Mi is a Paramecia Devil Fruit that gives the user the ability to replicate oneself. The fruit was eaten by Naruto D. Namikaze, result of him becoming a Duplication Human.

 **AN**

To all my fans of Rogue Marine and Spiral Fist, I wanted to fully apologize. I don't how he did it, but some fucking hacker has just got into my computer files, accessing almost my personal stuff, including my fan fiction net. Thanks to this bastard, Rogue Marine and Spiral Fist are mess up which I'm forced to start all over. I managed to fix my shit up, but I ensure I'm going to restart my stories again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Arrival in** **Marinford**

 **Marinford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

Naruto couldn't help but gawk at the size of Marinford as he made his way through the city.

He'd heard of what cities were like from some of the merchants that visited their island. He'd even seen some pictures. But none of that had prepared him for actually being here and having his senses assailed. There was so much going on and so many people that it was almost overwhelming. And you could easily get lost among all the twists and turns of the buildings.

Naruto was suddenly very grateful for the detailed directions the captain had given him before they'd parted ways. Examining them again, he continued along his path, occasionally stopping just to marvel at his surroundings. But he soon found himself standing in front of the recruiting office.

Opening the door, he entered, finding himself in a small lobby with a few chairs on the side. There was a desk across the room with a woman sitting at it. She wasn't wearing a uniform but she was the only one in the lobby so he walked across the room to her desk.

"Can I help you?" she asked him.

"I'm here to sign up for the marines," Naruto responded.

"Just like that?" she asked him. "You don't have any questions or concerns?"

"Nope," he answered. "I've wanted to be a marine all my life."

"Well that's certainly refreshing," she told him. "Usually our recruiters have to twist arms to get anyone to enlist."

The woman then grabbed a paper from a stack on her desk and handed it to Naruto along with a pen.

"Just fill this out and sign your name at the bottom," she told him.

Leaning over the desk Naruto began to do just that. The form was pretty basic personal information about himself and any health issues he might have. So Naruto progressed through it pretty quickly.

"Our next basic training group begins in four days," the woman informed him as he was nearly finished. "This packet will tell you where and when you need to show up and give you general information on what your service will entail."

Finishing up and signing his name, Naruto traded the form for the folder she was holding out to him.

"Do you have a place to stay until then?" she asked him.

"Not exactly," Naruto replied, having sort of assumed you would just start your training as soon as you signed up.

"Well do you have any funds to get you by until then?" she queried.

"Some," Naruto replied vaguely.

"If you head down the street to the right you'll come to an inn by the name of The Seagull's Nest," she told him. "The Marine Force will subsidize your stay there. Just show them the packet and they'll give you a discount."

"Thank you," Naruto replied graciously.

"Also, do you want me to sign you up for the Officer Exam?" she inquired. "If so you'll need to show up at 2:00 PM the day before basic training starts."

"There's an exam to become an officer?" Naruto asked. "What's on it?"

"There are two parts," she told him. "It is a test of your combat skills and a general exam that covers everything from marine rules and navigation to general history. The curriculum is actually in that packet. But if you're hoping to become an officer, you may want me to sign you up for the next exam instead. Three days isn't much time to study for it."

"When is the next exam?" Naruto asked, considering her offer.

"A month after this one," she answered.

As much as he would like more time to fully prepare, Naruto doubted the small stash of beri he'd brought with him would last that long. No matter how much that inn was subsidized it probably wouldn't even feed him for a whole month.

"No, this one will be fine," he told her. "Besides I'll ace the combat portion easily."

Taking out a small piece of paper she began writing on it then handed it to Naruto.

"This is directions to the Marinford Public Library," she stated. "It has any number of books that cover the material on the test. You don't have a lot of time to study, but every little bit helps."

"Thanks again," Naruto responded earnestly. "You've been a huge help."

"Just doing my job," she replied modestly. "And good luck with the exam."

Waving goodbye, Naruto left the building and then examined the directions to the library. He'd head there first as it was already well into the afternoon and he wanted to make sure it didn't close before he arrived.

The directions were easy enough to follow, but despite that, when he'd completed them he didn't see the library anywhere. Well, the last instruction had said to take the second right, but maybe she hadn't counted that small alley he'd passed as the first one. Anyway, he should be close to it, so if he got to higher ground he'd likely be able to see it.

That in mind, he jumped onto the roof of the nearest building and began to scan for anything that might be a library. Then again, what exactly did a library look like from the outside? He'd never seen one before. Maybe it was one of the buildings he'd been standing by and he just didn't recognize it.

But one thing he did notice quickly was that he wasn't the only person up there. Just a couple houses away was a tall and well-built man with fair skin. He had a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he usually ties back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes which extended further down his face. He was well dressed in a vice admiral marine uniform.

Curious as to what brought him there, Naruto approached the man.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked when he was only the a few feet away.

"Gah! Nothing!" The man yelled out, fumbling with the telescope as he was startled by Naruto's question.

Turning around the man seemed to calm down when he got a look at the person who had just surprised him. Seeing the other man's face for the first time, he was drawn to the red vertical lines beneath each of his eyes. Was that painted on or some kind of tattoo?

"I mean I was simply keeping a lookout on the area," the man said, contrary to his previous claim. "I am a marine you know. I should be the one asking you what you're doing up here. You aren't causing any mischief are you?"

"I'm just looking for the library," Naruto answered, hoping there weren't any rules against being on someone else's roof. The last thing he needed was to get himself in trouble with the marines only minutes after he'd signed up.

"Ah, if you're looking for something to read, this is your lucky day. I happen to be an author as well as a marine," he declared proudly.

Pulling a small orange book out of a coat pocket he held it out expectantly toward Naruto.

"Thanks for the offer," Naruto responded, trying to decline as politely as possible, "but what I need is some material to study for the Officer Exam. I'm joining the marines myself."

"Still, you don't want to work too hard or you'll just get all stressed out," he replied, holding the book out insistently. "Believe me; this book is great for relieving stress."

Naruto was saved from having to respond when a third figure landed next to the two of them. He was another marine vice admiral who looked much older than the first. He was a tall, tanned, broad-chest, muscular old man, with a beard and a scar over his left eye.

There you are, Jiraiya," the new arrival called out. "I've been looking all over for you. And here you are trying to corrupt our youth again."

"Now you went and got me spotted," the man apparently named Jiraiya said to Naruto accusingly, before turning to the other man.

"What do you want, Garp?" he asked.

"You're Garp?!" Naruto asked the older man excitedly. "As in Vice-Admiral Monkey D. Garp—the Hero of the Marines—the man who fought the King of Pirates so many times?"

"Hey, how come there is no reaction to my name?" Jiraiya questioned him, "I'm a Vice-Admiral too and famous as both a marine and an author."

"The kid just has good tastes, that's all," Garp countered.

"It's an honor to meet you, sir," Naruto told Garp, bowing respectfully to man. "If it's not too much trouble, I'm going to be taking the Officer Exam myself in a few days, and I would be grateful for any advice you could give me."

"Hmm, let me see," Garp said thoughtfully. "Actually there is one thing. Remember that the written exam comes first."

What was Garp trying to tell him? Maybe that he shouldn't warm up before going to the Exam because he'd just be sitting for a while? No, there had to be more to it than that, but Naruto couldn't figure out what it was. He didn't want to look stupid in front of such a great hero, but eventually curiosity won out over his desire to impress Garp.

"I'm sorry, but what exactly do you mean by that?" Naruto asked hesitantly.

"It's just that I got a little confused on that point back when I took the exam and beat up the proctor," Garp declared without the slightest hint he was embarrassed by that admission. "They caused quite a fuss over that, but it all worked out in the end."

Naruto stood dumbfounded at the response. Was that supposed to be a joke? Seeing as Garp was now laughing at his own words so he supposed that could be it.

"Are you ready to reconsider exactly which officer here you should be admiring?" Jiraiya asked him. "And just so you know, the library is one block north of here. There's a big sign so you can't miss it. I doubt muscle brain here even knows what a library is."

"Uh, thanks," Naruto replied a bit shakily, still somewhat shocked by Garp's 'advice'.

But pulling himself together, he decided to depart. He still needed to get to the library before it closed, and was no longer sure he wanted to continue talking to these two. Bidding them farewell, he jumped off the roof and began heading north as directed.

 **0o0o0**

"Not bad for a recruit," Jiraiya said as the two watched him leap casually off the roof. "He even managed to sneak up on me. Granted, I was a little distracted at the time."

"Yeah," Garp agreed. "It's good to see at least one kid with talent who doesn't want to be a pirate. It's all that fool Roger's fault. Why even my own grandson talks of being a pirate, but I'll beat that notion out of him yet."

"You have a grandson?" Jiraiya asked in surprise. "I didn't even know you had any children."

"Ah!" Garp replied. "That was supposed to be a secret."

"Don't worry," Jiraiya told him casually. "I won't tell anyone young Patrick wants to be a pirate."

"His name is Luffy, you idiot." Garp fired back. "Really, and you say I'm the dumb one."

"Yeah, you're just too smart for me," Jiraiya deadpanned.

He wondered about this Luffy and why he was supposed to be a secret. That kid who'd just run off interested him too. He reminded him of someone but he couldn't quite figure it out. He'd worry about those mysteries later, for now he had to try and get rid of Garp so he could go back to his research.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto set down the stack of books he'd borrowed from the library on a desk in the small, spartan room he'd just got at the inn. It was a lot of material for anyone to get through in just three days. But Naruto wasn't just anyone. Naruto summoned five clones, which he had discovered to be his limit. Dividing up the books between them, they all found a space in the now rather crowded room and began studying.

That night he learned another interesting fact about his power. His clones didn't need to eat or sleep. They also remained even as the real Naruto slept, studying on through the night. And despite some minor complaining on the part of his clones, they continued studying 24 hours a day right up until noon on the day of the exam.

He could probably study for another hour, but he wanted to leave himself plenty of time to get there in case he got lost in the city. Banishing his clones, he headed for the door and … fell to the ground in pain as it suddenly felt as if he had a dozen drills simultaneously trying to bore their way into his head. He tried to ward them off with his hands to no effect. Finally he got some relief as his consciousness faded.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto woke up with the worst headache he'd had in his entire life. Through the pain he tried to collect his thoughts and figure out what had happened. Was this a hangover or something? Had he gone drinking to celebrate his joining the marines? But he couldn't even remember taking the exam.

The Exam! He finally remembered what had caused him to pass out. It seemed he wasn't able to handle the flood of a combined 15 days worth of memories. Rushing to the window he saw the sun already getting low on the horizon. He was late!

Opening the window, he jumped out to the street below, stumbling as he felt another surge of pain. But he grit his teeth and began to run off toward the building he was supposed to have been at hours ago. Arriving, he was horrified to find the place empty save for a few marines. He quickly approached the nearest one.

"Who's in charge here?" he asked the man.

"That would Lieutenant Commander Iruka Umino over there," he replied pointing to a dark-haired man on the far side of the room who was looking over a stack of papers.

Thanking the man, he hurried over to Iruka.

"Iruka, sir," he called out to him. "I'm Naruto D. Namikaze. I'm here for the exam. I'm sorry I'm late."

"So you're the missing recruit," Iruka replied. "And you're more than just late, you missed it entirely. I thought you'd changed your mind and run off."

"I would never do that!" Naruto insisted. "I just had some extenuating circumstances the kept me from arriving on time. Is there any way I can take a make-up exam? Or I could just take next month's exam."

I'm sorry, but there is no make-up exam, and you're scheduled to begin tomorrow," Iruka informed him to Naruto's dismay. "Timeliness is important for an officer as well."

Iruka had a stern face that seemed to break no argument, but Naruto wouldn't be deterred. His dream wasn't to become a common enlisted sailor. He was going to be an admiral, like his father. Maybe even make fleet admiral some day.

"That's not fair!" Naruto complained, "I make one little mistake and now I can't become an officer? There's got to be some way."

Iruka's face softened a bit at this, actually showing a hint of compassion for his plight.

"If you're that determined, there is a way." Iruka replied. "Regardless of whether you pass the test or not, everyone has a month of basic training. Those who passed will undergo a different schedule designed for officer candidates. However, at the end of the month, there is another exam."

"And I can take that one?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"That's right," he confirmed. "It's a much harder exam, the majority of the officer candidates fail to pass it each year. Add in the fact that you won't have the benefit of the month of training for it, and not many who fail the first exam even bother to attempt it. But a few try each year and it's not unheard of for one or two to succeed."

"Thank you very much," Naruto all but yelled at the man. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Instead of thanking me, just make sure you show up on time in the future," Iruka replied, trying to take on a stern look again, but unable to completely hide a small smile.

"I will," Naruto promised, and ran out of the room back toward the inn.

He'd make sure he passed the next one, although maybe he'd stick to more normal means for studying this time. His headache still hadn't abated, but a quick examination of his memories showed the effort hadn't been a complete waste, as everything his clones had done seemed to be there.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto walked down the barracks looking for room 121. He hadn't repeated his tardiness from the day before, and after completing all the necessary paperwork, he'd been given his room assignment. Finding his room he entered to discover that it was already occupied.

This wasn't unexpected as he already knew he'd have a roommate. The real shocker was that the occupant was the largest dog he'd ever seen. Seriously, the white furred animal looked large enough for him to ride.

The dog was looking just as intently back at him. They were still just standing there staring at each other when another boy walked up beside him.

"Oh, you must be my roommate," the boy said. "I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru."

"They're letting you keep your dog here?" Naruto asked disbelievingly.

"This is more than just my dog, he's my partner," Kiba answered. "But they still wouldn't let me use him for the combat portion of the exam. I would have passed if they had. I mean I've never even practiced fighting on my own."

Naruto examined the other boy. He was brown haired, and about the same height as him. He was also the second person he'd met this week who had red lines painted or tattooed or something beneath his eyes, although they were much wider than Jiraiya's had been. Maybe there was some meaning to it.

"So, are you going to try to take the next exam too?" Naruto asked him, trying to make some friendly conversation.

"You bet I am," Kiba replied. "I had the highest score of anyone who failed. I just need a little practice fighting without Akamaru and I'll breeze through the exam. How about you, what was your score?"

"Well, I sort of missed taking the exam," Naruto said bashfully.

"What happened, you sleep through it?" Kiba inquired.

"No," Naruto replied before reconsidering. "Actually, I guess I kind of did but it's a bit more complicated than that. You see, I have a devil fruit power."

"Really? The other boy replied with a surprise.

"Yeah," Naruto begins to explain. "I eaten the Jūfuku Jūfuku No Mi. I have the ability to created clone copies of myself—Watch this!"

With that, he summoned three clones, and was pleased by the suitably awed look he received from his roommate. Akamaru, meanwhile was going from one to the next, sniffing them all.

"Are they all real?" Kiba queried.

"Well, they're all solid," Naruto replied. "But all of them except the original will just disappear in a puff of smoke if they take any significant blows."

Naruto then banished them all, which startled Akamaru, who had just been examining one of the clones.

"I also remember everything that happened to them after they vanish like that," he continued. "I was using that to cram in some studying at several times the normal rate. Unfortunately, I kept it up so long it was sort of a memory overload that knocked me out cold. I didn't wake up until the exam was over."

"That's a tough break," Kiba commiserated. "But that means you didn't even really fail, so you might have an easy time with the second test. Anyway, what made you want to join the marines?"

"My father was an admiral," Naruto replied proudly. "It's always been my dream to follow in his footsteps."

"Wow! He made it all the way to admiral?" Kiba asked. "My family has been in the marines for generations, and none of us ever made it that far. My great-grandfather was a commodore, and my mother is already a captain, so she might go even further. But not many people make it to Admiral. There's only, like, three of them right now."

Further conversation was put on hold as three other recruits showed up the door. One of them has a face that strongly reminded him of a rat, and two hulking brutes behind him. The rat boy was holding a clipboard in front on him that he was reading at the moment.

"Room 121," he muttered to himself, "That would make the occupants Inuzuka Kiba and Namikaze Naruto. My name is Nezumi and … is that a dog?!"

"Yeah, that's my partner," Kiba replied. "But how did you know Naruto and I would be in this room?"

"I have connections," Nezumi replied, having recomposed himself. "That's what I'm here about. For a few favors, here and there, I can pull some strings and make life a bit easier for you. I see here that you received the lowest score on the Officer Exam, Naruto, so you could use all the help you can get."

"Hey," Naruto replied, disgruntled by his words. "If you're here with us, that mean you failed too, so don't act so high and mighty."

"Heaven's no," Nezumi answered. "I never even took the exam. I have no desire to be an officer, there's too much work involved. I'll simply graduate an enlisted man. Then my father, Captain Nezumi, will make sure I'm assigned to his ship and it's the easy life from there."

"Wait, is Nezumi your family name?" Naruto asked.

"It's my given name," the rat faced recruit answered. "It's family tradition that the oldest son is always named Nezumi. But back to business, I'm looking for a few more subordinates at the moment. All you have to do is a few simple tasks every now and then. In exchange, I pull some strings and get you on my father's crew when we graduate. It's a nice simple assignment in East Blue. You could hardly ask for a safer job in the marines."

"Thanks, but I'll pass," Naruto said firmly. "Unlike you, I want to be an officer."

"With how poorly you did on the first test?" Nezumi asked dubiously. "I can see how you scored so low. You're not too bright to pass up an offer like this."

Naruto was become quite steamed at the other boy's words. He wanted to give him a nice punch to the jaw to shut him up, but realized starting a fight on his first day wasn't the best idea. So he went with Plan B.

"Get out," he ordered Nezumi coldly.

"Well that's rude," he replied. "I haven't even had a chance to finish speaking with Kiba."

"You heard him," Kiba interjected. "Get out of here. We're sick of looking at your ugly face."

"It's your choice," Nezumi answered smugly, "But don't come crying to me when you realize this is a mistake. I don't give second chances."

Having said his piece, he turned a walked away, his two lackeys following behind him. Naruto stood watching them retreat, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"We should probably get changed into our uniforms," Kiba suggested. "We need to be outside for basic training pretty soon."

Agreeing, the two of them did just that. Leaving Akamaru behind, they went outside, joined up with a growing group of recruits and waited. Soon a young purple haired woman came out, wearing a revealing outfit that was definitely not marine fashion saved for her jacket.

"My name is Captain Anko Mitarashi," she announced to the assembled recruits. "And for the next 12 weeks, you maggots are mine. It's my job to make turn you from green civilian into serious marine soldiers. To start things off we're going to go on a nice five mile run. And as a warning, if anyone isn't able to keep up with me, there will be consequences."

Anko took off, and the group moved to follow. She set a decent pace, but nothing Naruto couldn't handle. A number of the other recruits started having trouble as early as a couple of miles in. Some looked practically dead by the time they finally returned back to their original starting point, but everyone had stayed with the group. He could swear Anko looked disappointed by that fact.

They were quickly put to work doing other exercises, situps, pushups, crunches. After she was satisfied they'd done enough, she called them all together.

"That's enough for today," she told them. "But make sure to get some rest tonight, we do this every day."

"That's it?" Naruto asked reflexively.

He did harder training than this back on the island. He'd assumed they'd just been warming up before the real training started.

"I keep getting told that I'm too hard on new recruits," Anko responded. "'Recruits are running away Anko.' 'Words spreading and now no one will even join, Anko' 'That's practically torture, Anko.'"

As she was giving her speech, she stalked back and forth among the recruits, like a predator looking for a sign of weakness.

"So I decided to be nice and ease you into it," she continued. "But apparently I was too lenient. Since one of you was kind enough to point that out, I'll rectify the situation immediately. We're going to repeat all the training we just did, starting with the run."

A collective groan went up, and Naruto saw more than a few dirty glares sent his way. But they weren't given time to do more than look as Anko had already set off again. As Naruto started running, Kiba pulled up next to him. He was glad to see the other boy didn't seem to be much bothered by the exercise either.

"I heard about Anko from my sister," he told Naruto quietly, eying the back of said woman warily as if nervous she'd hear. "She's a sadist who's highly specializes in torture. They put her in charge of Boot Camp training, because of her reputation as loose cannon—especially begin known by the nickname "Goddess of Torture".

"Goddess of Torture." Naruto repeated.

"It's because of her habit of torturing," Kiba explained. "It's mostly on civilians or marines than pirates from what I heard. They brought her here to marine headquarters so they can keep a close eye on her."

A loud huffing noise let the two boys know someone else was approaching from behind them. Glancing back they saw Nezumi, struggling to catch up.

"If this … is some kind of … revenge," he struggled to get out between his labored breaths, "you're even dumber … than I thought. … You're suffering … just as much … as I am."

Naruto certainly didn't feel like he was suffering and was going to tell the boy so. But saying that seemed to have taken the last of Nezumi's strength as he fell to the ground right on the spot and lay there. Naruto and Kiba continued running, noticing Anko glance behind her.

"Looks like we have our first straggler," she said cheerfully in a sinister tone. "You guys keep running, I'll be right back."

Looking over his shoulder, he saw Anko dash back to the boy and pull a whip from … somewhere…one that she immediately proceeded to put to use.

Naruto turned his focus back to where he was going, grinning to himself.

"You can't do this!" Nezumi screeched indignantly from behind them. "My father will have your head for this!"

She didn't seem to be worried by his threats, as she struck him brutally with a whip, follow by Nezumi's scream.

"Your daddy isn't here to save you little boy," Anko mocked with crazed look of sadism in her eyes. "Here I' make the threats! Here I make the rules! Here—I AM THE GODDESS!

She whips Nezumi again, causing him to scream more loudly which made Naruto smile with delight.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Marine Training**

 **Marinford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

Naruto sat on his bed, looking over a star chart. They'd just finished their training for the day and were falling into their usual routine. Three weeks had already passed since he'd joined the marines. And with just one to go until the exam, Naruto and Kiba had both been hard at work preparing to pass it.

It's not as if their basic training would be much help. He should have realized it from the name, but it was mostly just exercise, even if it had got a bit harder over time. Sure they mixed in a few things that were actually useful; Gun maintenance, steering ships, repairing leaks, and such. But he'd learned that most of the interesting stuff was saved until after they'd completed basic.

"Nose stuck in a book again?" Kiba asked. "You should come outside and do some real training with me—or sneak out in night to watch Anko torturing Nezumi again for slacking out."

"Believe me, I'd love to," Naruto replied. "But I'm already confident in my fighting ability…and it's too damn cruel and funny to watch Anko beating Nezumi silly. But If I'm going to fail this exam it'll be the written portion. You could probably use to spend a little more time studying as well."

"I don't need to worry about that," Kiba said dismissively. "You do know that as long as you do exceptionally well on one portion of the exam, they'll pass you even if you totally bomb the other half right?"

"Really?" Naruto replied hopefully.

Most of this material was horribly dull, and he'd love nothing more than to throw out his books and go spend the last week sparring with Kiba instead. But as tempting as the idea sounded he quickly dismissed it.

"My father always used to tell me there's more to being a good officer than being able to fight," Naruto said firmly. "We might be able to pass the exam, but do you really want to be the type of officer whose profession is fighting—one that your subordinates can't rely on for anything else?"

"Man, no need to get all philosophical on me," Kiba said defensively. "I guess I can keep you company for one night."

Making good on his words Kiba grabbed up a book on identifying edible plants that was sitting on the floor. Taking it over to his own bed he sat down and began to read. It wasn't long before he began to fidget.

"So how about that special training we're doing tomorrow?" Kiba asked. "Finally get to have some real fun, huh?"

"They didn't go into a lot of details," Naruto replied, "Just that it's some sort of naval combat simulation. You know anything else?"

"Yeah, I heard all about it from my sister," he answered, always happy to show off what he knew. "It's more a sort of a final test for the officer candidates. They give them a bunch of fresh recruits who aren't even done with basic training. Then they stick them on a ship and pit them against each other to judge how well they can lead their crew. For us it's mostly just a chance to enjoy ourselves."

"So do we get to fire the cannons at each other or what?" Naruto queried. "That sounds a bit dangerous."

"Don't worry, they have special paint balls for all the cannons and firearms," Kiba responded.

"Sounds fun," Naruto agreed. "I wonder who we'll get teamed up with."

 **0o0o0**

Tenten approached the area where she was told to meet her temporary crew and, sure enough, they had already gathered there. She was going to introduce herself, but held off when she saw a blond boy having a heated discussion with another recruit.

"You'll eat those words, Nezumi," the blond said angrily. "We're going to tear your team apart.

"I highly doubt that," Nezumi replied smugly. "I noticed something odd about your group. The ten of you are the ten who received the lowest scores on the Officer Exam. Someone must really have it in for whoever is leading your group."

Tenten felt like she'd just been kicked in the gut. Twice, she participate in naval combat simulation test, which she always ended up assigned to a crew that proved to be extremely incompetent. And twice she has failed. If she failed a third time, her chance of becoming an officer is gone for good.

"Then whoever they are lucky you didn't take the exam," blond fired back. "It really would be hopeless if they had to deal with you."

"Please, I could have passed the exam with ease," Nezumi retorted. "Now I really have to be getting back to my own group. I look forward to seeing you squirm after we defeat you."

"Is this unit seven right?" Tenten asked the remaining recruits, hoping that she'd somehow ended up in the wrong place.

"That's right," the yellow-haired boy answered, destroying her last hope.

No, she couldn't just give up before she even tried. All of the recruits in front of her had at least hoped to be officers, having chosen to take the exam. So they couldn't be completely incompetent, could they?

"I'm Tenten," she said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I'll be in charge for the remainder of this exercise. Now let's all board the ship and get this started."

See, that wasn't so bad, all of them were following her and not even one had talked back. Climbing aboard she'd found the proctor already standing on the deck. He had them wait a few minutes before telling them to begin. As soon as he did, most of her crew began rushing for the cannons. This leads to a bit of confusion as there were ten of them only four cannons on the small ship.

"We can't all use the cannons," a rather portly one announced, "So I'll take this one and some of you will have to find something else to do."

"That's not fair," another complained, "Why should you get to be the one to fire it?"

"Maybe we can all take turns," a third suggested.

Glancing nervously at the proctor, Tenten realized she needed to get control of the situation fast. So she began selecting recruits at random and giving them tasks.

You, take the helm. You, raise the anchor. You two, unfurl the sails. And you, climb up to the crow's nest and keep an eye out for the other ship."

"But I'm afraid of heights," the boy she'd selected as lookout complained. "I think I should just take the cannon instead."

"If you really are afraid of heights, now's as good a time as any to get over it," she replied angrily. "Now get up there. That's an order."

Out of the corner of her eye she saw the two recruits she'd ordered to unfurl the sails doing just that and gasped.

"Wait!" she yelled to them "That hasn't been properly secured yet!"

But her words reached them too late, as the newly unfurled sail caught the wind. This rather forcefully swung the boom around knocking both of them over. Thankfully the blond from earlier had already jumped in and was securing it, because she had another crisis to deal with.

"Help! Get me down from here!" a voice cried out from above.

The boy she'd sent to the crow's nest was halfway up, eyes closed, and clinging to the ladder with all his might. At least he hadn't been lying about his fear of heights, she thought bitterly.

"Just take some deep breaths and climb back down," she said soothingly. "I changed my mind; you don't have to go up there."

"I'm not moving," he insisted stubbornly.

Tenten continued to attempt to coax him down until she noticed that, despite all the time she'd wasting doing so, the ship still hadn't moved. Looking over at the anchor she saw it had yet to be raised, the recruit assigned that task still struggling with it. She hurried over to see what was wrong.

"I'm sorry, but it won't budge," the recruit declared when he saw her coming.

Walking up next to him, Tenten released the locking mechanism which was still in place and the crank immediately began to turn under the boy's efforts.

"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly.

The ship finally began to pull away from dock, but her relief was short lived as she heard first one, and then a second cannon fire.

Tenten rushed over to get a look at the other ship, mad that no one had announced its presence. She saw it off to the port side approaching rapidly. But it was still pretty far off.

"What did you fire the cannons for?" she berated them. "They're still way out of range."

But they wouldn't be for long. Judging by their course, they were trying to get in front of them. A wise decision considering the ship didn't have any front mounted cannons.

"Reload, quickly," she ordered, then turned to the helmsman. "Hard to starboard."

She wouldn't let them have their way so easily. She'd turn the ship parallel to their course and they could exchange shots until one of them 'sank'. She only hoped the port side cannons were reloaded in time. Or that's what she would if the ship were actually turning to starboard like she'd ordered.

"That's port!" she yelled at the helmsman. "No, don't switch directions now! It's too late for that, keeping turning to port. No! Port is the direction you were going the first time! Just turn left. You do know which way is left right?"

In the confusion, the other ship had positioned themselves directly in front of them, just as she'd hoped to avoid. It fired a pair of shots. One fell short, but the other slammed into the main mast, just above the still cowering recruit, painting it a bright shade of yellow.

The impact startled the recruit who lost his hold on the ladder and began to fall backwards. Tenten ran beneath his path and succeeded in catching the boy, but lost her balance in the process. The two of them went sprawling, their spill sending them right into the stairwell and cartwheeling down below deck.

Her progress stopped by a wall, Tenten quickly regained her senses and checked on the boy, seeming to have avoided anything but a few bruises herself.

"Are you injured?" she asked him.

"I think I'll be okay," he replied shakily.

Hurrying back up stairs she was dismayed to see a big splotch of purple paint right in the middle of the deck, indicating a second hit.

"Your main mast is destroyed, and your ship is sinking," the proctor announced. "What will you do?"

What could she do? It was too late to do anything. She was going to fail. The other ship was pulling up alongside them and ordering them to surrender. She supposed that was the only option she had. But before she could say anything the blond recruit from earlier spoke up.

"If our ship is sinking, then we'll just have to take theirs."

Not even waiting for her reply he ran to edge of the ship and leaped across to the other one. His actions served as a much needed wake-up call. Firming her resolve she turned to the crew.

"All hands to the life boats," she ordered. "I've got a ship to capture."

Following after the reckless recruit, she jumped across to the other ship. The defenders had pulled out their guns and were attempting to get rid of single man boarding party. But he was weaving between them faster than she would have believed possible from a recruit, and not a single shot hit. Could he be using Soru? How could anyone who had even partially mastered one of the Rokushiki have failed the exam?

But Tenten didn't have time to consider that further. When she'd landed, two of their opponents had redirected their guns at her. However, with quick draw of skill, she quickly pulls out two wooden guns in her hand, disarmed them with a perfect shot. Not giving up even when disarmed, the two foes charged are Tenten—only to get pistol whip by her to wooden guns.

She quickly took out a third recruit before finding herself lacking any opponents. The rest were lying unconscious on the ground, save for the Nezumi boy, who yellow-haired boy was holding in the air by the collar of his shirt. The boy's face was already swelling from whatever treatment his tormentor had given him.

"I give up!" Nezumi cried frantically. "Have mercy! Please, someone stop him!"

"That's enough," the proctor ordered him.

Complying he set the other boy down, who scurried away to hide behind the proctor.

"Does this mean we won?" yellow-haired boy asked.

"Well they certainly don't look victorious to me," the marine replied, surveying the unconscious crew around him.

"Great," the yellow-haired boy replied cheerfully, then turned to address her. "Nice, job Tenten—sorry you had such a lousy crew."

"It's not your fault," she replied graciously. "And thank you. I owe you…what's your name again?"

"Naruto," he'd introduced himself. "Naruto D. Namikaze."

Naruto D. Namikaze .She'll work hard to remember that name…for he'd have just saved her career.

 **0o0o0**

The day of the exam had finally come. Naruto had hardly slept the night before and had shown up a full two hours early. But now he'd finished the written portion and let himself breath normally again. He thought he had done pretty well overall. He didn't know all the answers, but most of them had been pretty easy. And besides, Kiba had assured him you could completely fail the written portion as long as you aced the combat test.

So he'd informed them his specialty was unarmed combat when asked. Then he waited for his turn with the unarmed specialist. Kiba's name came up first, and he wished his friend good luck as he departed.

Not long after that, Naruto was called, so he left for his assigned room and walked up to the examiner. For some reason, the man had a bandage across his face and resting on his nose. Had he been injured earlier?

"I'm Lieutenant Kotetsu Hagane," the man told him. "You have a couple of minutes to stretch and warm up before we start."

"Thanks," Naruto replied, deciding to do just that, still being a bit stiff from two hours of test taking.

"You have some pretty impressive people in your group," Kotetsu told him conversationally as Naruto went through his routine. "There was a boy just a couple spots before you who fought like a wild animal. He almost caught me off guard coming at me so ferociously right from the start."

"You mean Kiba?" Naruto asked. "Because if he almost caught you flatfooted, you better make sure you're prepared for me. When he fights without his dog, he's not even a challenge."

"He fights with his dog?" Kotetsu asked dubiously. "You're pulling my leg. And don't worry about me, I'm pretty sure I can handle a few more recruits today. Just come at me whenever you're ready."

He couldn't say Naruto hadn't warned him. Now to see if he could rid him of that cocky attitude. Using his Soru, he circled around Kotetsu kicking the back of his knee. Naruto was satisfied to see his leg buckle, causing him began to fall backwards.

Grabbing his arm, Naruto gave him a little help and flipped him over so he was flat on his stomach. He then stood there grinning down in appreciation of his work.

"Man, they didn't even warn me that they're sending over a Rokushiki user," Kotetsu mumbled before lightly hopping back to his feet.

Naruto owe Anko for teaching him Rokushiki. Through the 12 weeks of hell training, Anko was so impressed by Naruto's hard work and prowess she decided to teach him some Rokushiki techniques. Soru wasn't that hard to master as it allows Naruto to move at extremely high speeds.

"Now, let's try that again, hopefully with a little less of me humiliating myself." said Kotetsu, this time not letting his guard down.

Complying, Naruto charged in again, but found his examiner ready for his speed this time. What followed was the best match Naruto had had since he'd left Leaf Island. He was pleased to see that he was a little faster than his opponent, but found it difficult to capitalize on that fact as the man was very skilled at dodging or redirecting all his blows.

But he did keep the lieutenant on the defensive for the most part, and had been able to deal with the few counterattacks that had come his way. Deciding the match had gone on long enough, Naruto made ready to use his clones. He'd see how well he could defend against five attackers at once.

"Stop!" a voice ordered forcefully before he could summon them.

Naruto and Kotetsu both dropped their guard and turned to where Lieutenant-Commander Iruka had just called out to them from the doorway.

"Aww, but I almost had him, sir." Kotetsu complained.

"You're not here to beat him, you're here to test him," Iruka declared. "And you were supposed to finish that five minutes ago. So I came to see why you're holding everyone up."

"Sorry, sir," he apologized, "I guess I just got a bit carried away."

"Well I can see why," Iruka admitted, "I don't think there's any need for further deliberation. You pass, Naruto."

"What about the written portion?" Naruto asked.

He realizing he should be pleased, but he was a bit unprepared to be so casually told of his success.

"I'll inform you of how you did later," Iruka promised, "But as I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you, Kotetsu may only be a lieutenant, but he'd one of the strongest lieutenants in the force. We certainly don't expect anyone fresh out of basic training to be able to fight evenly with him."

"I wouldn't say it was evenly matched," Kotetsu interjected, "You didn't expect me to go all out on a recruit did you, sir?"

"Hey, I didn't even use my secret weapon," Naruto countered, "You wouldn't have stood a chance if I had."

"You two can debate this later," Iruka told them, "We've held up the next examinee long enough—Congratulations again, Naruto D. Namikaze."

Naruto left the room with a huge grin—One that he seemed to have almost perpetually for the rest of the day. It also nearly drove Kiba to murder him, at least until several hours later when it was confirmed that he too had passed.

 **0o0o0**

Jiraiya sat nursing his drink. Garp was sitting beside him in the tavern they were frequenting rapidly making his way through a mound of food.. Watching his fellow Vice-Admiral eating obscene quantities of food was not how he'd planned to spend this evening. But Garp have invited him anyway and he rarely took no for an answer…usually didn't even seem to hear a word he says.

"I wish you stop eating like that Garp," Jiraiya complains. "Didn't your parents teach you table manners?"

"That's funny coming from you—for one that spies on naked women that are taking private bathing." Garp laughed. "

"It's called research!" Jiraiya defends himself.

"You know that blond kid who wanted to join the marines?" Garp asked without even bothering to swallow his current mouthful of food first.

"Yeah," Jiraiya replied, interest piqued.

"He just passed the Officer Exam," Garp continued, pausing his eating in a rare nod to courtesy. "And you know that thing with the ship they do?"

"The thing with the ship they do?" Jiraiya parroted. "We're in the marines, you know. You're going to have to be a bit more specific."

"You know, the test," Garp replied, "Where they fight each other with paint and stuff."

"Ah, that," Jiraiya nodded sagely.

"Well I hear the kid jumped himself onto the other ship and beat up the crew himself," Garp informed him. "That is how to win that with style. I'm really starting to like that boy."

"That's certainly interesting," Jiraiya conceded, "but beating up a dozen or so fresh recruits isn't exactly an awe inspiring feat."

"He almost finished boot camp training under Anko," Garp continue. "That means he's likely to take up Z's special training program."

Z, also known as "Black Arm" Zephyr, was the Instructor whose duty was to train Marine recruits to become strong and rise in rank. He was responsible for training many marines that climbs up high ranks.

Sakazuki, Borsalino, Kuzan, Momonga, Doberman, Onigumo, Comil, Yamakaji, Strawberry, Hina, Smoker, Ain and Binz were all trained by Z in his capacity as an instructor. Some of them refer to him as "Sensei", showing respect for him. Jiraiya and Garp, along with Sengoku, weren't young enough to be instructed by Z but did follow him in their careers and looked up to him as an example of bravery and justice.

"They also say he knows Soru," Garp added.

Jiraiya raised an eyebrow at that piece of intel.

"You know he reminds me of someone," he told Garp, "But I can't figure out who."

Not that he'd really bothered to think about it since he'd last seen the boy. Honestly he'd been more interested in why Garp was being so evasive about his grandson. He hadn't even been able to get more out of him than his name. And considering how bad Garp was at keeping a secret there had to be something to it.

"That's probably because he's Minato's boy," Garp explained.

"Minato had a kid?!" Jiraiya shouted drawing disapproving glances from those around him.

"Does everyone I know secretly have children?" Jiraiya asked more calmly before he asked "Are you sure he's Minato's kid?"

"I heard Gion was talking about it with Tsuru," Garp told him. "The last name…the blonde hair… he really is Minato's boy."

"That's weird," Jiraiya says, looking suspicious. "I wonder why Minato never mention he has a kid. He did tell me about his hometown but never mention any members of family."

"Who really cares," Garp says. "I just wish Luffy acts more like Naruto. I'm beginning to feels jealous of Minato over his kid."

Unknown to Garp, Jiraiya was too far away in his thoughts about Naruto and Minato. The notion still seemed so strange. Even if he was younger than he looked, he would have been at least a few years old when Minato died.

So why hadn't he ever mentioned him? He'd never even heard Minato mention a girl he had his eyes on. Maybe he didn't know he was a father? A plausible explanation, even if it seemed to go against Minato's character. But his gut told him there was more to it than that.

Jiraiya didn't like secrets. And between this one and Garp's grandson he now he had two of them to gnaw away at him. He'd have to do something about that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:** **Sudden Hostiles **

**Marinford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

It was very next morning Naruto, Kiba, and all the recruits quickly woke up, got dressed, and went to the training guard. Today was the last day of training under Captain Anko Mitarashi, which they now become official marine soldiers.

"Congratulations maggots," Captain Anko Mitarashi addressed her recruits. "You have all proved to me you're tough enough to handle 12 weeks of hell with me—well some of you!"

She turns her predatory dislike gazed on Nezumi, who sweat and trembles nervously. Naruto couldn't help but smirk as he recalls how many times Anko beats Nezumi for failing to keep up with her preparations. For Naruto, he felt energized and proud of hearing that. Through Anko's training was extremely vicious and serious, despite the pressure of it, he held out to the very end.

"However," Anko added. "Only a few amongst you had proved themselves to be the best. And because you're the best, I like the ones that I called out their names to step forward—Seaman Recruit Naruto D. Namikaze—step forward!"

Hearing his name called out, Naruto steps forward.

"Seaman Recruit Kiba Inuzuka—steps forward!"

Kiba also steps forward, standing next to Naruto.

"Of all the recruits here today," Anko told them with proud tone. "You two earn the right to be called the best. Congratulations on your officer exam, enable you to enroll at the Marine Officer Academy. There the two of you will be training under Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr."

Naruto has heard of him. He was a legendary training Instructor that was admired through the Marine organization. He trained many cadets, most of whom would ascend the Marines bureaucracy in both power and status. One of them was his father.

"These are the directions to where you'll meet the Admiral, at the Marine Officer Academy" Anko says, giving them a piece of paper. "Between the three of us, it will be a great honor of training under Admiral. He'd will not only making you into strong marine soldiers but also good officers in your own right. Believed me…I was one of his best students."

"Thank you ma'am!" Naruto and Kiba replied the same times, while saluting her.

"As right now you're all—oh I almost forgot— Seaman Recruit Nezumi, step forward.

Hearing his name called, Nezumi begin to feel extremely jumpy, yet he slowly made his way in front of line, appearing right in front of her. Then she took out her whip, causing the rat-face weasel to cry out in terror, falling on his knees.

"Pleases!" Nezumi cried out. "No more! Not the whip again—I can't handle it no more!"

"Calm down baby," Anko sneered at Nezumi. "This is a parting gift."

"Parting gift?" Nezumi repeated.

"Yeah," Anko says with an evil grin. "To remind you of all the good times we have. I never enjoy beating crap out of anyone who deserved it more than you."

Everyone who heard it laughed saved for Nezumi.

 **0o0o0**

Afterwards, Naruto and Kiba head towards their objective, carrying their personal possessions. Akamaru was following behind them.

"Man I really can't believe we're training under Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr," Naruto says as the two of them walked towards their destination.

"Yeah," Kiba agreed. "My mom and sister trained under him when they joined the marines and they regarded him with great respect and admiration."

"With his help, someday we'll become great marine officers," Kiba endure. "We might become Vice Admirals or Admirals some day."

"Naruto?" said a voice from out of nowhere. "Is that you?"

Hearing someone, Naruto and Kiba turns around and see a female marine who is wearing her hair in two Chinese-style buns on her head with short fringe-bangs framing her face.

"Tenten." Narueo says, recognizes her. "Is that you?"

"Yeah it's me," she says happily. "It's good to see you."

"So are you," said Naruto before he says "So you're now Ensign?"

"That I 'am," Tenten replied. "And it's all thanks to you."

"Then I guess I should salute you," Naruto as he salute her. "You deserved it."

"Thanks, I appreciate that." Tenten replied with a smile.

Kiba cough up a tone that gains their attention which Naruto quickly says "Oh I forgot—this is my friend Kiba Inuzuka."

Akamaru barked, to remind Naruto he was here too.

"And this is my friend Akamaru," he'd also added.

"Now that is really a big dog," Tenten says with impression as she stares at Akamaru before asking Kiba. "What have you been feeding him?"

"The traditions," Kiba replied. "It's custom amongst my tribe to better feed and trained their Canine partners."

"You mean like the Inuzuka Tribe?" Tenten asked. "Come to think about it…I recall of a woman and her daughter in the high rank marine begins members of the Inuzuka Tribe. Their names are Captain Tsume Inuzuka and Commander Hana Inuzuka."

"I know," Kiba says. "They're my mother and older sister."

"Really?" Tenten says with surprise. "This is really amazing. Do you think someday you introduce me to them? They are the main reason I wanted to join the Marines."

"How so?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Well," Tenten begins to explain. "You says you joined the marines because of your father. I joined the marines because of great women like Kiba's mother and sister, Vice Admiral "Great Staff Officer" Tsuru, Vice Admiral "Momousagi" Gion, and many others. But the one who has been the biggest influence in me joining the marines is—"

"Tenten…what are you doing?"

Hearing another new voice, all four turns their head. Behind them was a slender, curvaceous young woman with reddish-brown eyes and dark blue hair framing her face, which is held back with a hairpiece. She is well dressed in a marine uniform, with the rank of a Commodore.

"Commodore Ain Hyūga!" Tenten reacted in shock. "I was—"

"The ship that going to take you to your assignment in the East Blue Sea is leaving in a few minutes!" Ain cuts her off. "Why are you wasting time?"

"I'm sorry ma'ma!" Tenten quickly apologizes before turning to other and says "I'm sorry guys—but I got to go—I hope we see each other again!"

After Tenten was gone Ain and says "And where should you two be at?"

"We're—we're heading to meet with Admiral Zephyr at Marine Officer Academy." Naruto told her.

"Admiral Zephyr—you mean Sensei—I see?" she said in a stern tone.

"Yeas ma'ma, we are." said Kiba.

"Then what are you two waiting for!" she says harshly. "The other recruits are already meeting with Admiral Zephyr—do really wanted to miss his training.

"Yeas ma'ma," both them quickly replied. "We're going ma'ma!"

 **0o0o0**

 _"So the rumors are true,"_ Ain thought as she watches Naruto and kiba leaves, disappeared from sight. _"He really is Minato's son."_

Ain remember the day she first met Minato D. Namikaze. The two of them first met when training under Admiral Zephyr, alongside Binz. All three were personally trained by Z, through Minato was considered the most powerful fighter of the three, which he'd rightfully earn the rank of Admiral.

But unknown to everyone, saved for a few...there was a deep closeness between Ain and Minato. Closeness that…

"Mommy?"

Hearing a voice interrupted her thoughts, Ain turns around and smiles. Behind her was a 5 year old little girl dark-blue hair that she wears with straight bangs and a hime-cut. She wore a collared, long-sleeved yellow shirt with an orange cross-hatch pattern that resembled a sunflower, red pumpkin shorts, and yellow sandals.

"Himawari sweetie," Ain replied with a big smile as she picks up her daughter in her arms. "What is it that I can do for you?"

"Who's that you're talking to?" Himawari asked, looking curious.

"Just some marine recruits, sweetie, that's all." Ain says. "But enough about that...why don't we go get some ice cream."

"Sure!"Himawari replied happily. "After that can we go see grandpa Z?"

"Sure honey," Ain replied. "He would be happy to see you."

 **0o0o0**

"Is this the place?" Kiba asked when he, Naruto, and Akamaru arrived at their destination. The building in front of them looks much bigger and important the one they lived at during Boot Camp training.

"I think so." said Naruto. He noticed a couple of marine recruits around the place. "They must be marines that pass the officer exams."

Just then, one of the marine recruits approached them. He was a large and imposing man, with dark eyes and black hair that spikes out at the back from underneath his head rag.

"Hi you doing," he begins to introduced himself in a friendly tone. "My name is Akatsuchi."

"Hi you doing Akatsuchi, I'm Naruto." Naruto replies back.

"I'm Kiba, by the way," Kiba also introduce himself. "And this is Akamaru."

Akamaru barked in a sign of hello.

"So you all here because of the Officer Exam, right?" Akatsuchi asked. "How does it feel to get to meet Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr?"

"I wouldn't know yet," said Naruto. "But I can imagine it would be beyond memorable."

"It was for me," said Akatsuchi. "My friend introduces me to him a few years ago. He's main reason I joined the Marines."

"You met "Black Arm" Zephyr?" Kiba repeated, looking surprised.

"Yeah I did," said Akatsuchi. "I never gave any thought of joining the marines since I was more focus on ordinary life back in my hometown. But after I met the Admiral, I became inspired to do some good by helping and protecting society from pirates."

"Akatsuchi? Who'd you're talking to?"

Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru, and Akatsuchi turn their head. Approaching them was a woman, who appeared to be few years older than them. She has short, black hair and distinctly pink eyes and appeared to be slender and athletic.

"Oh hi Kurotsuchi," Akatsuchi greets. "I'm just talking to—"

"YOU!" Kurotsuchi reacted in a loud tone that caught everyone of hearing distance their attention. Her reaction was directed towards Naruto, who look confused.

"Excuse me?" Naruto replied with a mystified look.

"You're him?" Kurotsuchi questioned him coldly, giving him a hateful look like he never seen before. "You're the Yellow Flash's brat? Minato D. Namikaze's son, are you not?"

Naruto was more confused. He didn't know this girl, yet she seems to know him as well as his father. What were most puzzling of all were her sudden hostiles of fury and hate towards him. He can't understand why.

"Yeah I'm him, but—" he tries to say something.

"Shut up!" Kurotsuchi cuts him off angrily. "You don't belong here in the Marines! The last thing we need is a rotten apple falling from a rotten tree! Do yourself a favor and stay the hell away from me…or I'll kill you on general principles—come on Akatsuchi!"

"Kurotsuchi—"Akatsuchi tries to say something.

"I said come on Akatsuchi!" Kurotsuchi raise her voice again angrily.

Confused but obedient, Akatsuchi follows after Kurotsuchi, leaving Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru utterly stun and confused.

"What was that about?" Kiba asked with shocked look.

"I-I don't know!" Naruto replied in confusion.

 **Glossary**

 **Inuzuka Tribe** :The Inuzuka Tribe are a race of feral-looking humans, known for their use of dogs as fighting companions and are easily identified by the distinctive red fang markings on their cheeks. Their home is Inuzuka Island, which located in the Paradise part of the Grand Line. While individually Inuzukas and their Canidae partners are savagely strong fighters in their own right, their true strength is combining their strengths to form powerful attacks against common adversaries. Besides begin perfect battle partners, they also are perfect hunters and trackers, their acute senses superior to normal man or animal alike.

 **AN**

 **blukmage19r2:** Jufuku Jufuku No Mi and Mané-Mané Fruit have some differences. In fact, you could say that Jufuku Jufuku No Mi is a Superior Fruit to the Inferior Fruit Mané-Mané Fruit.

 **Ancient-Knight** **:** Sorry, but I never predicted I have to start over again when a hacker hack into my personal computer, as well as my fan fiction site.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Marine Officer Academy**

 **Marinford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

It was a half hour later when Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr finally meets the recruits.

He was a large, muscular, tan-skinned man, standing around twice the height of a typical man such as Naruto, with short purple hair and a large mechanical right arm connected to the left hip with converted mast rigging. Underneath that mechanical arm is a regular-sized and pitch black prosthetic arm.

He dressed well for a Marine Admiral; his standard outfit consisted of a purple suit with a Marine coat draped over his shoulders like a cape, his arms not in its sleeves. Z also wore a pink shirt with a polka-dotted tie under his purple suit. His coat has uniquely colored epaulletes with his own being blue.

For Naruto, it was a great honor to meet this man, more than meeting Vice Admiral Garp. The stories about "Black Arm" Zephyr were a stuff of legends that made every marine officer and soldier in the organization to look up to the legendary marine admiral.

"My name is Admiral "Black Arm" Zephyr," Zephyr introduced himself to the recruits. "You are all here because you had proved to be the best of the best. As Marine Instructor, it is my duty to train you recruits to be strong and rise into the ranks."

"Before we begin I want every one of you here to introduce yourself and tell us your reason on why you joined the Marines." Zephyr said. "For starters—let's begin with you Naruto."

Proud that the Naruto chosen him, he begins "My name is Naruto D. Namikaze and my primary reason for joining the marines was my father, Admiral Minato D. Namikaze, the Yellow Flash."

"Typical," Kurotsuchi sneer in a low tone. "Like father, like son."

Naruto gave Kurotsuchi an angry look. Since they first met, she had become hostile to him due to something to do with his father. Just what the hell was her problem?

"Anything else Naruto?" Admiral asked.

"I think that's all I can say Admiral," said Naruto. "My dad is the main reason I joined the Marines. Yet I also wanted to redeemed his good name. To my point of view he stands for heroism and justice!"

"Liar!" Kurotsuchi bitterly snarl.

"Excuse me?" Naruto reacted, looking mad as well.

"You heard me!" Kurotsuchi retort.

"Kurotsuchi," Zephyr replied in a stern tone. "Until it is your turn, pleases keep quiet until Naruto is done…understand?"

"Yes sir." Kurotsuchi responded.

"Well," Zephyr begins. "Now that's your turn is over, let's stated with Kiba for exchanged."

"My name is Kiba Inuzuka," Kiba introduced himself to the group. "My family has been in the marines for generations and I'm just another Inuzuka following in their footsteps. Although I can't predict the future, I'm going to do my best to make my family proud."

"Inuzuka huh?" Zephyr says the name before he asked "Are you by any chance related to Captain Tsume Inuzuka and Commander Hana Inuzuka?"

"Yeah, they are my mother and sister." Said Kiba

"I'm familiar with those two," said Zephyr. "Your mother is known to be tough and strict and your sister more laid-back and more even-tempered, result of both of them becoming fine marine officers."

"Thank you sir." Kiab says.

"However like every Inuzuka, they are never far apart from their canine partners" Zephyr added. "The two fight pretty well as individual fighters, but are more effective with their canine companions. So where is yours?"

"You mean Akamaru?" Kiba replied. "I left in my room at the Academy dormitory. Since I came here I was aware of marine rules and regulation that avert animals within its ground."

"Well here in the academy I decided differently?" Zephyr said. "I'm proud to trained and mentor your mother and sister, as well as their canine companions, which makes them of what they are today. As Inuzuka you must always have your partner Akamaru, especially as Marine officer Kiba—understand?"

"Yes sir—and thank you for your kind and encourage words sir."

"You're welcome Kiba," Zephyr says before turning to Akatsuchi and asked "Your turn Akatsuchi?"

"Well sir…my name is Akatsuchi," Akatsuchi introduce himself. "I enjoy a normal life in my hometown until my friend Kurotsuchi introduces me to you Admiral Zephyr. Do you remember our conversation we had?"

"Yes I have," Zephyr. "You told me that you accidentally eaten a zoan devil fruit, a Mythical Zoan-type one, and you think you were unworthy of that great power. I told you were wrong because you were worthy of that power because of certain traits."

"Yeah," said Akatsuchi. "You told me that I was brave, honest, smart, and loyal. That it was the perfect traits for the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Golem, especially of begin a Marine officer."

"You had eaten a devil fruit power?" Kiba asked.

"Akatsuchi eaten the Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Golem," Zephyr explains. "It's a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that transformed him into a stone-like giant with near indestructible durability and amazing strength. Perfect in good hands like Akatsuchi here…with his use I had no doubt he would make a fine marine officer.

"Thank for the highlights sir," said Akatsuchi. "Yet although I will do my best in the long career ahead, I doubt I would ever match you sir."

"You're too humble and honest Akatsuchi," said Zephyr before turning to Kurotsuchi. "Now Kurotsuchi…why don't you introduce yourself to the rest of the group and tell us your reason in joining the Marines."

"My name is Kurotsuchi Kamizuru," she spoken up for everyone to hear. "I joined the marines because it's in my bloodline. I was born in a family of marine soldiers or officers that begins with my Great-Great-Grandfather, Fleet Admiral Ishikawa Kamizuru."

Naruto has heard of Kurotsuchi's Great-Great-Grandfather. Fleet Admiral Ishikawa Kamizuru was one of previous commander in chiefs of the Marine forces long before the current Fleet Admiral Sengoku took the position. He was undoubtedly a powerful marine officer and known for his unorthodox use of Geppo, one of the superhuman techniques of Rokushiki, which allows him to fly as sophisticated state.

"But," Kurotsuchi also added. "I joined the Marines because of two men in my family—my grandfather former Admiral Ōnoki Kamizuru and my father…my father Vice Admiral Kitsuchi."

"Yes I know Ōnoki and Kitsuchi pretty well," Zephyr said proudly. "I grew up alongside Ōnoki when we youngsters that joined the Marines. While he can be very proud, headstrong, and boastful, I respected him as a determined, charismatic and inspirational leader to Marine soldiers and officers under his rank. And your father…"

Naruto saw the Great Admiral hesitated for a moment with a sad look on his face before he says "I just wanted you to know I very sadden of your loss. Your father was a good man and a great marine officer who I have great high hopes for in the future. Yet he died a hero, fighting Shanks."

"Shanks?" Kiba repeated, looking little confused until he says "You mean Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Yonko?"

"Yes," said Zephyr. "Years ago, Kurotsuchi's father, Vice Admiral Kitsuchi run into Shanks by accident when—"

"Forgive me Admiral for interrupting you," Kurotsuchi respectfully interrupted. "But it was no accident. Shanks should have never run into my father if a certain high-ranking marine officer didn't go AWOL from his mission!"

Looking at Naruto with angry look, Kurotsuchi pointed at him accusingly and says "And that marine officer was your father— Minato D. Namikaze!"

Utterly caught off guard, Naruto reacted "How is it that my dad is responsible for the death of your father?"

"Your dad was a Marine Admiral back in those days, the youngest in profession of history," Kurotsuchi confirmed her words angrily. "He was given assignment on Yonko member Shanks, when it was reported he was in East Blue and had been seriously wounded. Your father was supposed to be part of a task force sent to capture the man—but he deserted like a coward and traitor!"

Naruto was startled by what she says. Was that the main reason she was held a grudge at him for? However the last words amongst the end of her sentence—coward and traitor—was enough to make Naruto very angry, result of him strike back at her with a hard gaze.

"First of all," Naruto says seriously. "My dad is not a coward and traitor! The only reason he left his post because my village was under attacked. If he didn't, I and everyone on Leaf Island would have been dead."

"A sorry excuse from the son of a sorry excuse of man," Kurotsuchi retort. "Personally he got off easy. The only way the Marines could punished a dead man, was to demote him from the rank of Admiral to the rank of Commodore."

"He's still an Admiral as far as I'm concerned," Naruto snapped back at her. "He didn't deserve to be demoted for giving his life to save his village."

"Disobeying a direct order and dereliction of duty are serious offenses," Kurotsuchi said coldly. "But getting a marine vice admiral like my father—"

"Ok Kurotsuchi, that's enough," Zephyr cuts in, stepping between the two. "You made your point."

"Sir, I'm not—!" Naruto tries to retort.

"Naruto pleases—both of you two listen to me!" Zephyr raises his voice. "You two misunderstood the situation and each other. Tries to listen what I had to say."

Turning to Kurotsuchi, Zephyr says "Kurotsuchi, your father was never meant to fight Shanks. He was forced to take the assignment because of politics above and because he was close by when Shanks was sailing through the seas. Although Naruto's father was guilty for going AWOL…his only crime was begin a father trying to save family and home. I would have done the same thing in his shoes when…when I lost my family. Would your father would had done differently if he was in Minato's position."

Turning to Naruto, Zephyr also says "Naruto…tries to understand what I'm saying. I won't judge you for what your father did. I would have done the same thing he did with my wife and son if given the chance. But you need to understand that not everyone agreed on his actions of going AWOL. They considered it to be grave sin for abandoning your assignment. Kurotsuchi is angry at you because she lost her father on account of Minato's actions—just as I was angry with the pirate that murder my family and the other pirate that took my right arm."

He was referring his prosthetic right arm, the Battle Smasher. Naruto heard stories of how the great Admiral lost his right arm. From what he recalls, a very powerful and dangerous pirate cut off his right arm in a brutal battle. The Battle Smasher was created by World Government scientists to be an effective weapon against Devil Fruit users, especially against Logia-class. Z uses it as his primary weapon to hunt devil fruit users pirates.

Addressing both Naruto and Kurotsuchi "The two have great potential of begin Marine officers someday, either Admiral or Fleet Admiral. But together, you two can change an era of Justice and promoted heroism that would inspired the world. To do that, the two of you must bury the hatch between them for the common good of the world…understand."

"Yes…sir." Naruto and Kurotsuchi replied compellingly.

 **0o0o0**

Despite what they say, the hatch between Naruto and Kurotsuchi didn't end as Zephyr had hoped.

While Naruto tries his best to honor the legendary Admiral's request, Kurotsuchi wasn't making it easy. She still remains hateful towards him when they are in presence. Also, she didn't want to appear second best to him.

Zephyr proved to b a superior trainer than Anko, pushing all the recruits to absolute limit. The training was long and brutal, that lasts from morning to evening. Earning to his reputation of his title as marine instructor, Zephyr make sure none of the recruits was lacking in the results of their training. Anyone that doesn't cut up to his standards was drill out.

For Naruto, after the last six months under Zephyr's training, he was able to become one of his top two students, the other begin Kurotsuchi. Both were taught tactics, on how to deal with the potential difficulties or dangers of life in the sea. Both were taught hand-to-hand combat techniques to fight pirates, such as Rokushiki techniques.

Naruto has already learned Soru from Anko during Boot Camp. Able to move at extremely high speeds in order to avoids attacks, as well as to attack at higher speeds and with greater power had been a great advantage for him. Every month Zephyr will introduce them of Rokushiki techniques.

Rokushiki was martial art which at the culmination of training, makes the human body equal to weapon. Consist of six powers, one who master Rokushiki can become as strong as 100 men put together. Already mastered Soru, thanks to Zephyr, Naruto had learned Tekkai pretty well.

Most of the recruits within the class had begun take up with Rokushiki techniques. Kiba and Kurotsuchi have learned Soru and Shigan, enable them to attack with lethal striking power. Akatsuchi had begun to learned Tekkai, allows him hardens his muscles to the level of iron, in order to nullify damage taken from attacks.

"You are doing well class," Zephyr says proudly to his students the very next day of training. "In the last six months you had been developing results in physical feats, combat skills, and battlefield tactics. I had no doubt in my mind once you graduate you'll fully be capable as marine officers."

"However, you still had another six months to go before proving you had what it takes to be marine officers," Zephyr added. "And that's why I brought in a fellow marine officer that will help you make some improvement much better—Vice Admiral Garp!"

The mention of the Vice Amdrial caught most of the recruits by shock when they see the man who managed to corner the King of Pirate so many times appearing out of nowhere. Naruto remember first encounter the Vice Admiral many months ago. Not a Marine instructor like Admiral Zephyr, Naruto wonders why he was here

"Garp?" Akatsuchi reacted with shock when he sees the legendry marine Admiral entering the scene. "Did he mean Garp the Fist? The man who'd fought the King of Pirates so many times?"

"What's a guy like that doing here?" Kiba asked out of curiosity.

"Beats the hell I of me?" Naruto replied.

"Although Vice Admiral Garp is not a Marine instructor," Zephyr says. "He is to be your temporary Rokushiki instructor to help your improved your Rokushiki skills until graduation. Garp…you may?"

"Thanks Sensei," Garp replied.

"Oh and Garp," Zephyr added something before he leaves

"Yes Sensei?"

Zephyr gave Garp a stern warning "Tries not to get carry away."

"Yes!" Sensei?" Garp replies.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Kiba questioned Naruto.

"I don't know." Naruto says. "But I got a bad feeling about this."

Once Zephyr was gone, Garp says "All right…now that we're going to begin, I want to know who's an expert in Tekkai?"

"I 'am sir." Naruto says out loud.

"So am I sir." Akatsuchi also spoke up.

"All right then," Garp says. "You two step forward."

Obeying the Vice Admiral, both Naruto and Akatsuchi steps forward in front of Garp. As he did noticed several box carrying Cannonballs close to him. He wonders what the Vice Admiral is doing with them.

"Can you two describe the nature of Tekkai?" Garp questioned the two.

"Well sir," Akatsuchi begins. "Tekkai hardens the users' muscles to the level of iron, in order to nullify damage taken from attacks."

"I take it you two proved to be very skillful in Tekkai?" Garp questioned them once more on that subject.

"We are sir," Naruto begins. "I knew that it requires serious weight training in order to make your Tekkai stronger. Since I finally activated Tekkai, I had been doing weightlifting ten hours a day, seven days a week. So far it had progress pretty well."

"What about you Akatsuchi?" Garp asked the large and imposing young man. "Can you describe your Tekkai skill?"

"Well sir," Akatsuchi begins. "I am doing pretty well with my Tekkai. With my devil fruit power I was very creative. When I'm in Golem form I conduct a technique that I called Golem Tekkai. I'm confident that it will endure Cannonballs, fire from cannon."

Garp smiles as he says "I'm glad you say that Akatsuchi…because we're going to see if your Golem Tekkai is tough as you say.

"What do you mean sir?" Akatsuchi asked, looking confused.

"You see those boxes of cannonball lying there," Garp says, pointing at them. "For the next three hours and every day, I'm going throw every one of them at you and Naruto in order to help your Tekkai gets stronger."

Hearing that, Naruto's eyes erupt in pure horror and shock when he says "Y-you're not serious sir?"

 **Devil Fruit**

 **Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Golem (** **Human Human Fruit, Model Golem):** The Hito Hito no Mi, Model: Golem is a Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit that was eaten by Akatsuchi, result of transforming him into a Golem Human. The fruit's powers grant the user highly-level rock-hard skin that protects him from conventional attack and greatly enhanced strength.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Sense of Justice**

 **Marinford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

"That guy is insane!" Naruto moans.

After three hours of training with Vice Admiral Garp, Naruto's body looks almost as if it was going fall apart. The madman who call himself a Vice Admiral got the twisted idea that in order for Naruto's Tekkai to get stronger, he had throw Cannonball at him.

Garp wasn't pulling his punches. The man's strength was so inhumanly monstrous, he threw those iron cannonballs at him like baseballs at speeds higher than if they were fired an actual cannon. It took every ounce of his strength to use Tekkai to protect him from the cannonballs—barely.

Right now, in their rooms, he and Kiba, are recovering from the injuries from Garp's training.

"You think that's bad?" Kiba complains, struggling to put Band-Aids on his broken fingers. "He making me and the rest of the recruits that are proficient in Shigan to tries piece a steel wall with our bare hands. Right now my fingers are painfully swollen."

"Crazy—he's also insanely strong—no wonder he managed to fight the King of Pirates so many times!" Naruto remarked.

"I guess the rumors about him are true," said Kiba. "Why the hell did Sensei picked him to help with our improvement?"

Struggling to get up, Naruto says "Right now there is nothing we could do about. We might résumé training much harder if we want survived Garp tomorrow.

"Are you kidding me?" Kiba complains. "There might not be anything left of us until graduation—or worse we might not survived."

"If you two want to quit—quit!" someone says from out of nowhere. "The last thing the marines needs is cry babies!"

Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru look up, to see standing at the doorway of their room was none other than Kurotsuchi, who looking down on them with loathing gazed.

"What the hell did you just say?" Kiba asked, getting angry at Kurotsuchi. Also angry was Akamaru.

"You heard me cry baby!" Kurotsuchi coldly says. "If you can't handle what Garp throws at us then you should pack your bags and go home with your tail wagging between your legs. You don't see me complaining."

Kiba was about to react violently when Naruto stops him and he looked at Kurotsuchi sternly says "None of us are quitting Kurotsuchi. We came too far to fail!"

"Too bad!" Kurotsuchi sneered as she gets ready to leave. "Then again—maybe Garp might accidentally killed you doing the training routine.

"Kurotsuchi wait!" Naruto calls out to her as she stops in her track. "Sensei—Sensei wants this hatch between us to be buried. So why don't we buried it and make peace."

"I'll never peace with you Naruto!" Kurotsuchi coldly says. "Not as long as I could remember the day my father was buried. "

"I understand Kurotsuchi, but—" Naruto tries to say something.

"No! You don't get to understand!" Kurotsuchi cuts him off angrily, getting to his face. "You can never understand to see your own father killed by that dammed red-haired pirate Shanks! I hated Shanks for taking my father away—just as I hated your dad for going AWOL from his assignment—an assignment that was forced upon my dad!"

Naruto wanted to tell Kurotsuchi back that she was wrong. That he did understand how she feels about losing a father. He remembers the day the island was attacked. He remembers many people dying and dead. He remembers his father arriving in time, to confront this great threat to the island. And he remembers his last conversation with his father.

"As long as one of us is still alive the hatch will never be buried Naruto!" Kurotsuchi confirmed her harsh words personally. "To me you will always be the son of—"

"All right Kurotsuchi, that's enough!" Ain cuts her off, appearing out of nowhere. "I think you say your piece—you are dismissed."

Seeing a superior officer in presence, Kurotsuchi gave Naruto an angry look before she turns around and leaves.

"I'm sorry about that," Ain apologizes "Kurotsuchi was never the same when her father died. She wasn't like that before Vice Admiral Kitsuchi's death. From the way she reacted, I had a feeling she remaining holding a grudge for the rest of her life."

"I know you," Naruto said.

"Yeah you do," said Ain. "We met before the moment of your first day with Sensei. You look almost like your dad."

"You knew Naruto's dad?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah," Ain admits. "Me and _Minato_ first met when training under Admiral Zephyr. Of all students that Sensei trained, _Minato was his best student._ Sensei was right that he saw greatness in _Minato the moment he first saw him."_

 _"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, looking curious._

 _"Minato," Ain begins. "Minato wasn't just_ one of the most powerful marines in history, whose abilities to be unmatched by anyone else. He was a positive idealist _with vision that he once to promoted. Not just the marines, but also the whole world._ Sensei saw that in him and for the first time, he felt a sense of hope."

"Have you ever wondered how your dad became the youngest Admiral in history?" Ain told Naruto. "Well, Sensei was the one who encouraged him to take the rank. He wanted _Minato to be in a position to taking Fleet Admiral someday because it will be no doubt that your dad would be the perfect choice."_

 _"Why would_ Sensei wanted my dad to be Fleet Admiral?" Naruto questioned her, looking curious.

Before Ain was about to answer, entering out of nowhere was her daughter, Himawari.

"Mommy," said Himawari, looking happily. "There you are. I had been looking for you."

"Himawari sweetheart," Ain replied with a happy grin on her face as she picked up her daughter. "I told you to wait. I wasn't going to be gone."

"I'm sorry mommy," Himawari says until she noticed Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru. "Who are they?"

"My name is Naruto D. Namikaze," Naruto introduce himself. "This is my friend Kiba Inuzuka and his partner, Akamaru."

"Is that a dog?" Himawari asked without thinking as she stares Akamaru. "He's too bug to be a dog."

""Himawari sweetheart," Ain gently lectures her. "It's rude to ask questions like that."

"Sorry mom." Himawari apologizes.

Turning to others Ain says "I wish I talk to you some more but I need to get going. I just want you to know that I know you'll success in passing Sensei's training and reach graduation."

"I appreciate that ma'ma, thank you!" Naruto says. "And I'm glad to meet with one of my dad's old friends. I hope we'd meet again someday and chat."

"I'm sure we would." said Ain.

Once Ain and Himawari, Kiba says "Now that was a cute little girl, isn't it?"

"Yeah, she is." Naruto agreed. Yet, after looking at Himawari, Naruto could have sworn that there is something familiar about that little girl.

 **0o0o0**

So far Vice Admiral Garp didn't pull any of his punches when it comes of pushing Zephyr's students to their absolute limit in Rokushiki training. Although Naruto still thought him to be a maniac, throwing Cannonballs at him, like that they were baseballs, his negatives slowly faded away.

Day after day, week, after week, Naruto begun to manifested more and more development of his Tekkai technique. Somehow, it looks like it didn't hurt when Garp's cannonballs hit him. A little bit, but not that much. To his surprise, during the training, he has managed to catch a couple of cannonballs Garp threw at him.

Even Kiba was showing some good result as well with his Shigan, as he was able cut through Iron with his bare fingers. He also begins introducing Akamaru some Rokushiki techniques.

And besides his Rokushiki training with Garp, Naruto also needs to focus for the naval combat simulation that he'd first done at the end of basic training. Only this time, he'd be the one in charge of the crew. He was especially looking forward to the exercise as he'd been paired against Kiba. Sure they were still good friends, better than ever in fact. But that didn't mean he wouldn't enjoy proving his own superiority.

As he gets ready to get on the ship, the proctor who was on deck, walked towards him and says "There had been a changed of plan. You won't be competing against Kiba."

"Then who'd am I be competing against?" Naruto asked out of curiosity.

"Cadet Kurotsuchi Kamizuru." He told him.

Naruto was startled. Of all cadets, why does he have to compete against Kurotsuchi? He shook that thought away as nonsense as he nothing to fear from her. Yet the problem was the hating look Kurotsuchi gazed at him every time there were within presence of each other.

Once he aboard the ship Naruto finds his crew was far more competent than the one he'd served with when he last did this. The anchor was raised, and the ship took off smoothly. At Naruto's direction, the helmsman turned the ship to Counterfeit Island, the direction he knew where Kurotsuchi's ship would be waiting.

 _"I'm not going let Kurotsuchi intimidated me!"_ Naruto thought determinedly. _"I'll treat this as no better or worse of any other lesson that I learned."_

"Oh sir," said one of the cadets of his crew. "The ship is turning away from us."

"What?" Naruto asked.

"I say the ship is turning away from us." He repeated again.

Naruto gazed at Kurotsuchi's ship. It turning away from, trying to sail behind the counterfeit island. Just what was she up to?

It was obvious Kurotsuchi was going defensive, trying to keep out of firing range. And she uses the island to protect her. However it won't help her. Naruto order his crew to set course to interject the path of Kurotsuchi's ship, at the other side of the counterfeit island. He then orders his crew to prepare their weapons to fire their paint Cannonballs once the ship comes in sight.

However, as his ship progress closer to his destination, it was without warning a large amount of smoke suddenly appeared.

 _"Smokescreen!"_ Naruto thought. _"Good plan Kurotsuchi, to hide your ship. But you're going had to do better than—"_

"SIR!" one his crewmates screamed. "The ship is behind us!"

"WHAT!" Naruto reacted with shock.

Quickly turning around, Naruto was shocked to see Kurotsuchi's ship right behind them. She pretended to try to sail behind the other side of the fake island and uses the smokescreen as a distraction. Thinking about it was a mistake Naruto just made as Kurotsuchi's ship has already started firing at his ship, three paintball cannons making scores on the side of the ship. Trying to stay calm, Naruto was about to give orders when without warning, Kurotsuchi suddenly jump aboard the ship from above, right in front of Naruto.

"You lose!" Kurotsuchi sneered. **"Shigan Technique: Shotgun Fist!"**

So fast and powerful Kurotsuchi's Shigan was, Naruto didn't has chance to trigger his Tekkai to absorb the blow. The force of the attack sends Naruto flying in the air, straight into the sea.

The moment the sea water touches him, Naruto felt his strength quickly left. He tries to resist the inevitable, but he suddenly black out into unconsciousness.

 **0o0o0**

Finally finding his consciousness, Naruto open his eyes. Examining his surroundings, Naruto realizes he was lying in a bed. Standing over him was Kiba, Akamaru, and Admiral Zephyr.

"Oh thank goodness!" Kiba says with happy relief. "I thought you never wake up."

Akamaru barked in agreement with Kiba, who also looks happy to see Naruto is all right as well.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked.

"You're in the Marine Hospital," Admiral Zephyr told him. "You almost drowned from the amount of water he swallows. And you had been in a state of consciousness of three hours."

"Three Hours?" Naruto repeated, looking stunned. "Then…that means…"

"You lost the naval combat simulation," Zephyr told him. "The maneuver Kurotsuchi made was pretty trickery."

"Trickery?" Kiba reacted with disgust. "She almost got Naruto killed with that dirty trick, she'd—"

"Kiba!" Zephyr interrupted. "Have you forgotten my lessons that quick?"

"No Sensei, I was—"Kiba tries to protest.

"I told before," Zephyr continues, interrupting him. "Pirates never play fair…they always play dirty!"

"Yes Sensei," Kiba says. "But can you really approved of what Kurotsuchi did? The way she attack Naruto was brutal."

"No I don't," Zephyr says. "I going talk with her later on…but first I want talk with Naruto alone. So could you and Akamaru excuse us for a moment?"

Once Kiba and Akamaru were gone Zephyr says "So how are you feeling Naruto?"

"Fine Sensei …saved for my pride." Naruto confessed. "She uses the ocean against me because I'm a Devil Fruit user."

"That she does," said Zephyr. "Kurotsuchi is a skilled tactician and strategist as well as begin an amazing fighter. I envision that someday she would make a great Marine officer, moved up to the rank of Admiral."

"What'd about me sir?" Naruto asked. "How you envision me?"

"You had great potential Naruto," Zephyr told him. "I had no doubt as well you'll make a fine Maine Admiral someday, just like your father."

Speaking of his father, Naruto was reminded of his conversation with Ain, about the part of Zephyr encouraging his father to attain the rank of Fleet Admiral. He then asked "Oh Sensei…May I asked you a question."

"What is it?" Zephyr asked.

"Commodore Ain told me you encouraged my father to attain the rank of Fleet Admiral." Naruto alleged.

"Yes that true," Zephyr admits. "Do you want to know why I encouraged him to the task."

"Yes I do," said Naruto.

"It's because of his sense of Justice." Zephyr told him.

"His sense of justice?" Naruto repeated, looking confused. "What do you mean? What's that?"

"It's a term for Marine officers that reflect their idea of enforcing Justice against criminals." Zephyr explained.

"I still don't get it Sensei," Naruto said. "Justice is the very fiber of being to every man or woman who is a marine officer."

"Is that so," Zephyr said. "Tell me something Naruto…why did you join the Marines again."

"My reason was to join the marines because of my father Sensei," Naruto told him. "And my other reason was in hopes of redeeming his name."

"That's nice of you of saying that," Zephyr says. "But like I say before…your father was not very popular amongst the Marines, despite many regarded him with respect and esteem. They see him as a disgrace and traitor to Justice for allowing Shanks to escape."

"I understand how people felt about my father's actions Sensei," Naruto argued. "But if dad continues to chase after Shanks…me and everyone on Leaf Island would have been dead."

"Would you have done the same thing as Minato has?" Zephyr challenged Naruto on that subject.

Naruto was startled by that question. He didn't had time to think about it and answer when Zephyr quickly says "Naruto, your father's sense of Justice motivate him help anyone who is in trouble. It's not an easy task to handle. It gives him an insight of what is right, wrong, and necessary in this world. And it goes against Marines' motto of Absolute Justice."

"Absolute Justice?" Naruto repeated.

"It's a strict motto every Marine must follow," Zephyr explained it to him. "A motto when it comes to prosecuting those who violate the government's laws. Yet the motto was taken to extreme."

"I don't get it?" Naruto replied with a confused look.

"Perhaps I'll explain it to you," Zephyr gives the details carefully. "Imagined a marine officer was chasing a pirate-a very dangerous and powerful pirate— that escape into a village. This marine officer occupied the village with a mighty force, and ordered his marine soldiers to begin searching the town for this pirate."

"However, the pirate could not be easily found, yet the Marine officer knew he is hidden somewhere." Zephyr carries on. "So he did the quickest solution—he destroyed the town."

Horrified, Naruto reacted "That's crazy!"

"Not Naruto that is the reality." Zephyr replied. "Believe me I know—I seen it happened with my own eyes a long time ago when I was in my 20s."

"But—what about the innocent people of the town he destroyed?" Naruto pointed out. "A marine's duty is to protect ordinary civilians from pirates, not destroyed in the progress of getting to pirates."

"Absolute Justice is considered protecting civilians secondary to the purses of pirates," Zephyr said. "I enlisted in the Marines because I strongly believed in Justice and heroism. But after many years of service I finally see what it truly represents—corruption and abuse of power—something I find it to be appalled to the core of being. The marine officer that destroyed the town to get the pirate is the example."

"However, your father was different," Zephyr says some more. "Minato doesn't agreed with the ideas of Absolute Justice and believed that the system should be changed for the betterment. That's why I encouraged him to progress forward into his career up to the rank of Fleet Admiral because I see him as the final hope and redemption for the Marines."

"But my father never did became a Fleet Admiral," Naruto says instead.

"No he didn't," Zephyr replied sadly. "He died saving his hometown on Leaf Island. Now the chances of hope and redemption for the Marines are now rest with you."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7** **: Arrival In the** **East Blue Sea**

 **Marinford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

 _"Now the chances of hope and redemption for the Marines are now rest with you."_ Zephyr's words ringed in Naruto's mind. _"What did Sensei mean by that? And what does he mean about the Marines. It's almost like he describes it to be..."_

"Hey Naruto…did you hear what I says?" Kiba says out loud.

Today, Naruto, Kiba, and the other have finally graduated as marine officers, with the rank of Ensign. After failing his first naval combat simulation, Naruto continue training, under Admiral Zephyr and later Admiral Garp. He later starts again with the naval combat simulation, this time passing it more successfully.

Following graduation, they'd been directed to a building where assignments were being given to the new officers. Naruto and Kiba were currently on their way there. And seeing how much of an impact this would have on their lives, they understandably had little else on their minds.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening," Naruto apologizes. "What did you just says?"

"I say where do you think we'll get assigned?" Kiba asked.

"Hopefully somewhere on the grand line," Naruto replied. "Where I'll be out hunting pirates, not stuck in a base."

"I don't know," Kiba answered, "It might be easier to stand out and risen through the ranks somewhere else. You know, come back to the Grand Line when you have your own ship or something."

"Maybe for you, but I'm good enough to get noticed no matter where I go," Naruto quipped.

"You talk big now, but I'll bet you three months salary I make captain before you do," Kiba challenged.

"You're on," Naruto replied. "And I'm not going to let you back out of that."

Coming to the building they'd been directed to, Naruto entered and quickly moved to the rear of a small line that had already formed, Kiba falling in place behind him. It was only a short wait until he stood in front of the desk that belonged to a silver haired young officer. Lieutenant-Commander Mizuki according to a nameplate on the desk.

"Name please," he ordered in tone that clearly showed he would rather be anywhere but here.

"Ensign Naruto D. Namikaze," he supplied.

"Namikaze, huh?" Mizuki responded raising an eyebrow.

"I take it you've heard of my dad, Admiral Minato," Naruto said proudly.

"You mean Commodore Minato," Mizuki corrected disdainfully. "They may have tried to spare his son the news, but he was demoted posthumously as punishment for going AWOL from important mission."

Naruto got very angry and replied "You don't what you're talking about! To me he still an Admiral and didn't deserved to be demoted for giving his life to save his village."

"Is that so?" Mizuki scorned. "I was part of the task force assigned to find, hunt, capture or kill the Yonko member Red-Haired Shanks. But your father deserted his mission and left me and other alone with the task. And to make matters worse, not only did Shanks escape, a lot good marines like Vice Admiral Kitsuchi."

"Oh yeah I knew Ensign Kurotsuchi Kamizuru," Mizuki added with sneered. "It shame how her father died due the negligence of duty of your dad. I know without doubt she will become a better Marine officer than you be."

Mizuki paused and stared at the fuming Naruto as if to make sure his words were sinking in.

"That's right!" Mizuki kept on insulting Naruto. "You're the son of a disgraced marine. Do you think anyone going forget that? I you think you had future in the marine during the long run, think again!"

Naruto had a retort ready, but Kiba came to his defense and spoke first.

"Just so you know sir," Kiba says in defensive of Naruto. "Not every marine would agree with you. My mom and sister still had respect for Admiral Minato. Hell even Admiral Zephyr still respected Minato."

"Then you're fool—especially your mother, sister, and the old man!" Mizuki retort.

Kiba suddenly gotten angry and was about to retort when Naruto cuts in and coldy says "We here for our new assignment—not to start a scene—do you have anything for us?"

Mizuki appeared to realize they were causing a scene and holding up a line that was still growing behind the two young officers he was arguing with. Rifling through his papers, he pulled one out.

"I believe I have just the assignment for two officers for the likes of you," he said with a self-satisfied smirk. "There's a Captain Morgan looking for some fresh blood. I've heard he's quite strict with his subordinates, so he shouldn't give you many opportunities to cause trouble. And what trouble could you really cause in East Blue?"

Quickly writing down their assignments in his records, he held out two sheets of paper.

"Your ship leaves tonight. All the details are right here." he informed them. "Unless you feel your father isn't the only one who's too good to follow orders."

Naruto snatched the papers from his hand, spun around and stormed back outside, Kiba following right behind him. Not his first choice of what to do with the papers Mizuki had been holding out. But that poor excuse for a marine was probably itching for him to try something he could charge them over.

 **0o0o0**

 **East Blue Sea**

Naruto leaned over the rail of the ship, staring sadly as Shell Island came into view. He let out another sigh at being stuck with this assignment at 153rd Branch.

"Stop moping already," Kiba told him. "This might not be all bad, and at least you've got a friendly face with you."

"Have you ever considered I might be sick of seeing your face?" Naruto muttered sullenly.

"Hey now," Kiba snapped back, "I'm just trying to cheer you up, no need to bite my head off."

"I know," Naruto said half apologetically "It's just we're stuck here in East Blue Sea—the weakest of the seas."

"The East Blue pirate captains are the weakest pirates in the world!" Naruto complained. "They're deck hands or cabin boys from pirate crews on other seas that were too weak for even that job. So they come to East Blue and gather up a bunch of buffoons impressed just by the fact that they've been on a real pirate ship. Then they all go off and cause more mischief than actual harm."

"Now you're exaggerating," Kiba admonished, "Even East Blue has to have _some_ decent pirates. My sister told me a story that the previous King of Pirates was born and died in these seas and believed the next King of Pirates will be born in these seas again."

"I doubt it." Naruto replied.

The ship finally arrived at their destination. Departing into the dock, they were directed toward a dark skinned marine, Commander Ripper who was busy yelling at a number of other marines around him. They approached him and stood waiting for him to take notice, not wanting to interrupt his tirade.

"I thought I told you to get rid of that pirate ship we impounded," Commander Ripper shouted. "So why is it still sitting here taking up space in the dock?"

"Sorry sir," the target of his ire replied, "I'm just not sure what to do with it."

"I don't care what you do with it," Commander Ripper angrily said, "Find someone to buy it, take it out to sea and set it on fire—just get rid of it."

The man saluted and walked off without debating the matter further.

"Can I help you?" he asked impatiently, turning to where they'd been waiting.

"We've been ordered to report to Captain Morgan," Naruto replied.

"Oh the new recruits," Ripper replied. "I'd forgotten you were coming. But unless you feel like paying him a visit in his prison cell, you'll have to forget about your orders. I'm Commander Ripper, the one in charge of dealing with the mess he left me."

He sat looking at them for a moment as if trying to figure out what to do with them.

"I'm really busy right now, so why don't you go have a look around town," he suggested, "If you find me in a couple of hours or so, hopefully I'll have a few minutes to get you set you up with some quarters."

The commander had already turned to another marine, so Naruto just saluted and walked off, Kiba mirroring him, and Akamaru bringing up the rear.

"I wonder what that's all about?" says Naruto, looking confused. "And what does he mean of Captain begin in a prison cell?"

"Maybe we'll ask someone around," Kiba says. "How's about that's kid over there?"

He was pointed at marine recruit— a small, timid, chubby boy with pink hair and round-frame glasses—who is moping the floors.

"Excuse me," Kiba calls out to the young marine, approaching him. "Can we ask you a question?"

"Uh what is it sir?" the pink-haired marine replied, looking nervous.

"Why is Captain Morgan locked in his own jail cell?"

"Well sir," the pink-haired marine begins to explain. "This is how it happened..."

He told them how Captain Morgan abuse his power, ruling the small island of Shells Town by fear, forcing its citizens to pay taxes, and even going as far as killing his own men if they do not obey his commands. This revelation utterly shocked Naruto, Kiba, and Akamaru.

"You have any idea why the hell he would do something like that?" Naruto asked, his tone sounded disgusted. If there is one thing he hates the most is a marine abusing his authority, especially on innocent civilians.

"Uh…I really don't know," the young marine replied nervously.

"How did the marines get Captain Morgan in jail cell?" Kiba asked out of curiosity.

"Uh…I really can't afford talk right now," the boy says changing the subject. "I need to clean this hallway quickly before Commander Ripper comes by."

Once he was gone, Kiba says "I really like to know how Captain Morgan ended up in the jail cell. I heard that guy was so strong he onnce took down Kuro of a Hundred Plans, one of the most infamous pirates in the East Blue Sea."

"Actually, there is," Naruto replied. "I want to go get a closer look at that pirate ship he was talking about."

"That's fine with me," Kiba answered, "but why do you want to do that?"

"Because I plan to take it," Naruto declared, unable to completely hide a devious smirk he was developing.

"You plan to what?" Kiba asked incredulously, looking around to make sure no one else was in range to overhear.

"You heard me," Naruto replied. "I plan to sail off with the ship and go pirate hunting. You're welcome to come with me, if you'd like."

"Do you know how much trouble that could get us in?" Kiba queried.

"Commander Ripper did order someone to get rid of it," Naruto pointed out. "So as I see it, we're just following orders."

"You don't actually think they'll buy that do you?" his friend argued.

"Look," Naruto told him firmly. "I know this is crazy and impulsive, and I'll probably regret it in the morning. But I just have the feeling that this is my chance. And that if I don't take it I'm going to be stuck here doing menial tasks instead of out there making a doing something worthwhile. Now I don't know about you, but I joined the marines to make a difference."

Kiba stood there deliberating for almost half a minute before he finally broke into a smile.

"Oh, why not?" He finally said. "At our court-martial I'll just tell them it was all your idea. What do you say Akamaru, are you in?"

In reply the oversized canine began trotting over to the edge of the docks that held their target. The three of them hid themselves around the corner of a warehouse, hoping that the dock would clear itself of people if they waited long enough.

While they were waiting they got a good look at the ship. It was a decent sized ship which looked able to easily support a crew of a dozen or so. The ship itself was very plain in design, but seemed to be solid construction. Maybe it was a stolen merchant ship. Or given that this was East Blue, more likely just a bunch of merchants that decided to repaint their ship and call themselves pirates.

It was a dark green in color with black sails, and there was a flag tied to the main mast with the ubiquitous skull and crossbones of a pirate ship. The skull had a green frog about half its own size of sitting on top of it. Yeah, that would really strike fear into the hearts of those who witnessed it.

"That's a pretty big ship for just the three of us," Kiba pointed out. "It's going to be difficult to handle."

You're forgetting who you're dealing with," Naruto reminded him.

"Oh yeah," Kiba responded. "That's a really useful power you have."

The commander had already departed, and soon the ship that brought them left as well, leaving the dock deserted. Making use of the opportunity, they hurried to the ship and climbed aboard. Naruto immediately summoned four clones and sent them to work preparing the ship to set sail. Thanks to a year of rigorous marine training, Naruto's strength has enhanced to the point which he can summon 50 clones at once.

The real Naruto took the helm and it didn't take long until the ship began to move away from the port. But it wasn't until the island had faded out of sight that Naruto allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Even I didn't expect to be captain of my own ship this soon," he admitted.

"Hey, why do you get to be the captain?" Kiba asked.

"Because it's my idea," Naruto pointed out. "But if you want to be Captain you had takes responsibility it was your idea if we're caught."

Kiba was quiet for a long moment until he replied "Fine—you're Captain."

Naruto could feel the thrill of adventure waiting for him. And despite their banter, he could tell even Kiba was getting into the spirit of things. He turned the ship west, toward the setting sun and, eventually, the Grand Line. Any pirates out there better hope they didn't have the misfortune of crossing his path.

 **AN**

 **Guest:** It's just a warm-up. In time Naruto and his gang will become in equal ground with Luffy and his crew.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: East Blue Adventures**

 **East Blue Sea**

"Pirates dead ahead," one of Naruto's clones called out from the crow's nest.

That hadn't taken long, it was less than a day from when they'd set sail. Taking up a spare telescope, Naruto looked through to examine the pirates himself. He could just make out the skull and crossbones painted on their sails.

And oddly enough that's all there was to the design. It was just standard skull and crossbones. Usually each pirate crew added their own touch to make the design unique, but there didn't seem to be any such variation on this flag.

He didn't recognize any pirates who used that design either. And he'd made sure to do research on all East Blue bounties before he shipped out here. And if they didn't have a bounty that meant this fight was unlikely to be even mildly interesting. Still, it'd be one less pirate crew on the loose.

Naruto set course for the enemy ship, which obligingly was moving toward them as well. The ship only had two cannons, one mounted on either side. He had a clone stationed at each in case they ended up exchanging shots.

But the other ship was content to simply continue their approach, so Naruto held off on the shooting as well. As the ships pulled up next to each other, Kiba and Naruto stood at the starboard railing getting a lock at the other crew.

There were about twenty or so men armed with pistols and cutlasses. They were led by a captain who looked like a walking stereotype. He stood about average height and build, with a long scraggly black beard, a wooden leg, a hook for one of his hands, and an eyepatch covering an eye. He even had a parrot sitting on his shoulder.

"Let me handle this," Naruto told Kiba. "This fight will be so dull I won't had to use my devil fruit powers."

"Only if you let me and Akamaru have the next ship," Kiba answered.

"Fair enough," he agreed.

"Arr, surrender yer ship if ye wish to live," the pirate captain ordered.

"You're the one that should surrender," Naruto yelled back. "It'll be less painful for you."

"Ye hear that lads?" the leader of the pirates asked. "He wants us to surrender. Why I have more reason ta fear me own mother than I do these bilge rats."

His crew laughed appreciatively at his barb, some of them throwing in jeers of their own. Naruto just cracked his knuckles in reply and jumped across to the other ship.

 **0o0o0**

"Still think your mother is scarier than we are?" Naruto asked smugly.

The captain held the honor of being the only pirate left conscious, the rest of them being sprawled all over their ship's deck where Naruto had left them. And the honor was somewhat dubious in nature given he was currently bound in rope after having received a thorough trouncing. And the way his one good eye was starting to swell up, he was at real risk of being temporarily blinded.

"Arr, ye beat me soundly," the one legged captain answered, "I be man enough to admit it. But these wounds are nothing compared to me last encounter with me mother. A terrifying woman she be."

"What are we going to do with them?" Kiba asked, having joined Naruto on the other ship. "I don't feel like sharing our ship with twenty captive pirates. And how are we supposed to turn them in when we're trying to avoid other marines?"

"I've already thought about that," Naruto answered. "We can leave the crew on their ship and have three of my clones sail it into a marine base. Once I've handed them over, the clones can just disperse themselves."

"Can they travel that far from you?" Kiba asked curiously.

"I've never tested it quite so far," Naruto admitted. "But they've worked fine at a pretty decent range, so I have no reason to think it won't work. But we can keep the captain on our ship for now, just to be safe."

"Sounds good," Kiba agreed, "But before we send them off, let's help ourselves to some of their food and water. There wasn't exactly a large supply on the ship when we left."

"Good idea," he replied. "If we run into pirates often enough, we won't even need to risk stopping at a port to resupply. I just hope some of them put up a little more of a fight than this."

 **0o0o0**

"Do you think they're pirates?" Naruto asked, handing Kiba his telescope.

Kiba peered through it at the vessel that was approaching them, a rather elegantly designed ship that looked to be quite expensive.

"Well, they don't look too friendly," Kiba answered. "It's pretty clear they intend to fight us. But I've never heard of pirates being so well dressed. And there's nothing about the ship that would suggest they're up to no good."

"Maybe they think we're pirates," Naruto suggested. "We may have taken down that stupid frog flag, but black sails are certainly suspicious."

Still confused as to what would be the appropriate course of the action, they waited until the ships were close enough to communicate.

"I know the black sails are odd, but we're not pirates, we're marines." Naruto yelled out to them. "See we're even wearing our uniforms."

"That's too bad for you, because we are pirates," a voice replied.

While most of the crew could simply be considered well dressed, the owner of the voice's outfit was nothing less that flamboyant. He would wager the white shirt and dark pants of his were made of silk. Silk wasn't cheap as it was and beyond that his shirt was embroidered with a pattern of thorns that wrapped around his arms.

"You are in the presence of the most stylish pirates in East Blue," the man Naruto could only assume to be the captain boasted. "Cower in fear or gaze in awe as you hand over your valuables—whichever you prefer."

"Come on Akamaru," Kiba called to his canine companion. "I believe it's our turn."

 **0o0o0**

Naruto led the newly captured pirate captain below deck, where their first captive was still tied up. There were six rooms down here that were designed as sleeping quarters. Five of them made for two crewmen and a larger room for the captain.

Considering how often they were likely to have captives, Naruto would have to see about converting one of them to a cell at some point. But for now he'd was just leaving them tied up in the central area under guard from Akamaru. And whenever Akamaru needed a break, his clone would stand in for him.

But he already had three clones taking care of their most recently captured ship along with its crew. So using his last one to guard prisoners left just Kiba to help him sail the ship. But as he brought his new captive below, the man immediately noticed his fellow prisoner, and Naruto saw a recognition flash in his eyes.

"I should have known you'd already be captured, Harold," he declared as Naruto began to secure his bonds. "You always were a lousy pirate."

"Arr, I told ye a thousand times, Julian" Harold responded in annoyance, "don't call me by that name any longer. I be Captain Scourge now. And I'll have ye know that there were a dozen men on this ship when we clashed. I killed eight of them meself includin their captain. And here ye be having lost to their two young cabin boys."

"That's a lie, like everything else about you," Julian retorted.

Naruto realized he should probably get back above deck, but he was enjoying the argument too much for the moment, and decided he could spare a few minutes.

"It may be I exaggerate a bit," Harold admitted. "Any pirate worth his salt enjoys a weavin a good tale. But what about me could be called a lie?"

"Where do I start?" Julian asked melodramatically. "Your eye works just fine under that patch. You're holding that hook in a perfectly good hand you're hiding in your sleeve. And that parrot you usually keep on your shoulder is stuffed."

"Aye, that may be true," Harold granted, "but me peg leg be real, and the rest be real enough in spirit."

"Whatever you'd say Fakebeard." Julian mocked.

"Hey now," Harold replied, sounding truly hurt by the remark. "It don't be right to make fun of a man's condition what doesn't let him grow a proper pirate like beard. At least I be tryin to look the part of a pirate."

"A pointless endeavor that is," Julian declared. "You're just blindly sticking to stupid traditions. You need to realize that being a pirate doesn't preclude one from being elegant."

"Here's what I think of ye and yer elegance," Harold shouted.

Then proving Julian's earlier claim, he wriggled beneath his bindings and managed to toss his hook at where Julian sat a short distance away. His aim was true, and the point of his hook snagged the other man's shirt along the side of his chest tearing a hole in it.

"My designer shirt, what have you done?!" Julian cried out in horror. "Do you have any idea how much this cost?! And look at this, I'm bleeding! If I scar, it'll ruin my perfect chest. I'll never be able to visit a beach again."

Finally deciding he'd had enough, Naruto went back above deck, leaving Akamaru to look on in amusement as the two captains slid along the floor and began attacking one another as best they could while tied up.

Honestly, were those two idiots even a risk to anyone? Making up his mind right then, he went back above deck and approached Kiba, who was at the helm.

"Set course for the Grand Line," he ordered. "I don't want to spend any longer in East Blue than I have to."

"Grand Line?" kiba repeated, looking shock. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Naruto retort. "I'm not going stay in the East Blue Sea much longer. I'm tired of beating up pirates that shows me no challenge. The real challenge is the Grand Line.

"Be careful what you wish for Naruto," Kiba warned. "My sister always says you don't want to meet a pirate you can't handle!"

"I can handle any pirate that crosses my path!" Naruto bragged. "Don't forget, we'd been trained by both Admiral Zephyr and Vice Admiral —hey what's that?"

The three of them noticed something that caught their attention. Kiba looked through the telescope to get a better look.

"I think it's a group of ships," Kiba says. "Four of them whose crew all look terrified of something behind them. But I don't see anyone chasing them."

"I don't know," Naruto admitted. "Let's go ask one of them."

They were able to pull their ship up next to one of the others, matching its speed and course. Naruto would have preferred a real marine ship. But it was some consolation that the one they'd ended up with was, in all honesty, a reasonably fast ship.

"Is there any trouble?" Naruto asked.

"It's Don Krieg," a passenger on the ship yelled back. "He's attacking the Baratie. We just escaped from there."

"Don Krieg!" Naruto muttered the name in recognition.

"Recognize the name?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah, he has the second highest bounty in East Blue," he replied. "He must have at least a little fight in him to earn that."

Setting course in the direction the ships had just fled from, it didn't take them long to see the floating restaurant coming up in the distance. But when he got close enough to make out details, Naruto almost did a double take.

"Krieg's ship is in pieces!" Naruto declared in surprise.

"How did that happen?" Kiba asked.

Not having any reply, Naruto simply continued to scan through the telescope for any clues. But he saw nothing that could have left such a large ship so completely destroyed. At least until one figure in particular caught his eye.

"That looks like Dracule "Hawk Eyes" _Mihawk_ ," he supplied for Kiba, who was still waiting on an answer. "But what would he be doing here?"

"I don't know?" Kiba said. "But we need to be careful. Shichibukai members are powerful pirates in their own right."

"I already know about _Mihawk_ ," Naruto responded. "He was says to fought Red-Haired Shanks in a battle that shook the Grand Line and is regarded as the World's greatest swordsman. And I already know of the Shichibukai members working for the World Government, despite them begin pirates. But if he oversteps his bounds and starts attacking civilians, we'll be obligated to stop him—or maybe I should say try to stop him."

"Surely you're not serious?" Kiba asked, looking at Naruto, to be sure if he was joking.

"Oh I'm serious—and don't called me surely." Naruto replied with a determined grin.

Kiba's face paled at the response. He was dead serious about stepping in if the situation called for it, but he wasn't any more eager than Kiba to do so. Still, he continued his course and pulled up next to the Baratie, seeing that there was one ship that hadn't fled. A small vessel with four men was on it, although a couple of them would probably be more accurately called boys than men.

Hopping off and tying the ship to the Baratie, he saw a green haired young man approaching Mihawk. Curious as what was going on he decided to see if anyone on the other ship had information.

"Who is that?" he questioned them. "And what does he think he's doing?"

"That's Pirate Hunter _Roronoa Zoro_ ," one of them replied after turning to face his questioner. "He's the greatest swordsman in East Blue."

"And I'm his captain," boasted one of the younger passengers of the small vessel. He looked to be a year younger than Naruto, wearing short, blue trousers with cuffs, sandals, sleeveless red vest, and straw hat.

He looked like he was about to add something else. Instead, something behind Naruto caught his eye and his face lit up with excitement.

"That's a huuugggeee dog!" he called out enthusiastically. "Hey Usopp, let's go pet him."

"Luffy, how can you be so carefree when Zoro is about to fight that monster?" Usopp admonished.

But then his companion ignored him, grabbing his hand and the side of the ship with his other. Then he backed up … stretching his arm as he went? He must be another devil fruit user. Anyway, having stretched his arm to several times its original length, Luffy lifted his feet and took off as if fired from a slingshot.

He and his passenger crash landed behind him next to were Kiba and Akamaru had just gotten off the ship. Luffy seemed unaffected by the impact, but the same couldn't be said for Usopp, who had yet to stand up.

But Luffy ignored that fact and proceeded to run around Akamaru excitedly examining him. Neither Akamaru nor Kiba seemed quite sure of how to react. Naruto, however, chose to turn his attention back to the two who were still on the ship.

"A pirate hunter?" he parroted. "So you're bounty hunters?"

"That's right," responded the same man who answered before. "I'm Johnny and this is Yosaku. We may not be a match for Zoro, but I'll have you know we're pretty strong ourselves."

"So what exactly is he doing?" Naruto asked, still not having received a response to his earlier question.

"Challenging him to a fight to prove he's the better swordsman, of course," Yosaku answered.

"Well you should stop him before he gets hurt," he warned them. "He may be the best swordsman in East Blue, but Mihawk is the best swordsman in the Grand Line. And you're about to learn how great the gap between those two oceans is."

"Grand Line?" Luffy asked from behind him, the word having caught his attention. "Have you been there?"

"I was born there," Naruto answered. "In fact, this is the first time I've left it."

"That's great," Luffy said energetically. "You should join my crew. I'm going there myself and you could show me around when I get there."

"You don't even know my name and you're asking me to join your crew?" Naruto replied, caught a bit off guard by the unorthodox request.

"I guess you're right," the boy admitted. "I'm Luffy, what's your name?"

"Naruto," he supplied.

"There, now you can join my crew," Luffy declared, as if it were already a done deal.

"Um … I appreciate the offer," he answered, still not sure how to react to the rather odd boy, "But I'm already a marine officer and captain of my own crew."

Luffy looked like he was prepared to argue further, so Naruto switched tactics and tried to distract him instead.

"Shouldn't you be more concerned with not losing the crewmen you already have?" he asked.

"Ah!" he cried out. "My navigator ran off with my ship! Wake up Usopp. We have to go after them."

While Luffy tried to shake Usopp back to consciousness, Naruto pondered his words. Wasn't that his ship over there? And why had his navigator run off with it? Maybe they hadn't agreed to join in the first place. Was this just some crazy kid who went around insisting people were part of his crew? Was he really even Zoro's captain?

Speaking of Zoro, how was the fight going? Returning his attention to the match, Naruto saw Mihawk put away his great black sword, the Yoru, and pulls out a small knife in hand.

"What are you going to do with that?" said Zoro.

"I don't hunt rabbits with cannons," Mihawk says. "So it's fitting I'll use this knife against you…through I left behind my smallest knife at home."

"It's that guy nuts!" Kiba reacted. "Does he honestly think he can use a small knife against three swords?"

Zoro seem insulted and retort "You're going reacted that arrogance— **Oni Giri!"**

Zoro crosses his two swords across his chest and places the blade in his mouth horizontally behind them. Zoro then charged at Mihawk with alarming speeds—only for all three swords stopped by Mihawk's small knife.

"No way!" Kiba reacted with pure shock. "How did he do that?"

"Shocked for a moment that his strongest attack was easily defeated Zoro quickly résumé his attack on the Shichibukai. Yet Mihawk easily evade and blocked his sword attacks.

"What was that you say?" a voice spoken. "That you'd will challenged Mihawk all by yourself?"

"Huh?" Naruto reacted turning around to see where the voice comes from. Turning around, he was shocked to see who was standing before."

In front of him was a man who was compared with Naruto in terms of physical appearance; both have bright, blue eyes and spiky, blond hair. He also had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face, which he was very handsome. He was well dressed in marine officer uniform. Naruto know who he is and was shocked of what he sees.

"Dad!" Naruto respond in shock. "But…you're dead!"

"I 'am dead!" Minato replied. "You're just experiencing hallucination—I'm just the "angel on your shoulder".

"I-I don't understand!" Naruto says, still confused.

"You shouldn't be here Naruto," Minato coldly says. "You should have been at home in Leaf Island."

"Dad…I only wanted the joined the marines to be like you?" Naruto defend himself.

"You won't be in the marines much longer." Minato disagreed. "Remember—you deserted!"

"I didn't desert!" Naruto weakly protested.

"You deserted Naruto," Minato persisted in the issue. "That's why you didn't back to Shell Island when you took the ship off without permission. What do you calls leaving your official marine post and going out into sea then?"

Naruto attempted to defend himself, yet he was unable to protest a single word of defense.

"On top of that," Minato added. "You decided to sail to the Grand Line because you'd don't consider the pirates here in the East Blue Sea not worthy to your taste. But the truth is you're not worthy to the Grand Line pirate to their taste. To you this is just a game you don't take seriously."

"That's not true dad!" Naruto tries to disagree with his father.

"Really—look at Zoro!" Minato pointed out.

Naruto turns around—just in time to see to see Mihawk using the Yoru to inflicted a powerful slash on Zoro.

"Zoro!" Luffy yelled, having noticed the swordsman's predicament himself.

But his cry didn't deter Mihawk, who swung the oversized sword of his leaving a long cut down his opponent's chest. Johnny and Yosaku had already dived into the water to swim toward their wounded companion. A newly enraged Luffy, meanwhile, used that odd power of his to rocket his body toward Mihawk in an attack of his own.

"You may have been trained well by Admiral Zephyr and Vice Admiral Garp," Minato told Naruto with serious tone. "But like Zoro, you're in over your head trying take on pirates like Mihawk or more. Sensei is wrong—you're not the one who will be the bearer of hope and redemption for the Marines."

Naruto was about to retort to his father when he realizes he disappeared. He also realizes that Kiba was talking to him.

"Did you hear what I say?" Kiba yelled at Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto reacted stupidly.

"I says Mihawk gone, leaving us to handle Krieg and his pirates!" Kiba shouted. "What are your orders?"

Looking at the situation, Naruto realizes Kiba was correct. Mihawk was gone and Johnny and Yosaku had dragged an astonishingly still conscious Zoro back to their ship and began to treat him. He'd give the man full credit for his fortitude if nothing else. Now back to reality, Naruto quickly replied "We stand our ground and fight the pirates. Not to mention protecting the civilians.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto begins to wonder what was going on back there. He just saw his father who was suppose to be dead for years. Was it his father's ghost or something? He put aside those questions away right now. He needs to be focus on reality instead of mental thoughts.

With Mihawk no longer around, Krieg quickly turned his attention to the Baratie, and Naruto heard him shout an order to his crew, who began to swim to the other vessel en masse. The Baratie responded in a most unusual manner, a couple of large wooden platforms rising up on either side like a pair of fins for the ship.

It was a good thing he'd moved his own ship away, as the fins only just fell short of reaching the ship. But it looked like the pirates were coming to him leaving little need to chase them down. So leaving a single clone to guard the ship, he leaped onto the newly raised platform and ran to where the fighting was already starting.

"Keep back behind my clones," Naruto says to the cook, creating twenty clones. "Me and my crew will protect you all."

"Hey—don't underestimate us chefs!" a blonde cook, well dressed in a black suit and smoking a cigarette replied. The man then proceeded to tear through the pirates with an impressive display of martial skill that seemed to center entirely on kicking. He was soon joined by the other chef's who also were managing to get the better of the pirates.

It looked like they might not need his help at all. Intrigued by the fight he came to a stop next to Kiba and Akamaru who were also content for now to simply watch the fight. Just then he saw two of the chefs hurtle past him. They'd been sent in that direction by a large man covered in circular pieces of armor who had just climbed out of the water. His very appearance lifted the morale of the remaining pirates.

"It's Pearl!" one cried out. "He'll teach those chefs why we're the strongest pirates in East Blue."

Pearl continued to approach the group chefs, most of whom backed off in response to his advance.

"This one looks interesting," Kiba declared. "Come on Akamaru, let's see what he can do."

His two crew members ran toward the armored pirate, who saw them coming and turned to face his attackers. Akamaru pulled out ahead of Kiba and made use of his devil fruit powers to begin his spin. Pearl braced for the impact as the large animal barreled toward him, but instead Akamaru passed just to his right, avoiding a collision.

"Looks like your pet missed," he pointed out condescendingly to a still charging Kiba.

"If you think that you may want to look behind you," Kiba shouted back.

Turning around he saw Kiba's claim hadn't been a trick, as Akamaru had reversed course and was once heading straight for him. Pearl prepared himself for the dog's attack. Unfortunately, he had apparently forgotten Kiba behind him as he found himself sandwiched between Akamaru's Tsuuga and a shoulder tackle from Kiba.

His armor proved insufficient for such an attack, shattering on both sides and not even absorbing enough force to preventing Pearl from loosing consciousness as a result of the double impact.

"He was supposed to be one of your strongest fighters?" Kiba asked, clearly disappointed. "I'm beginning to think Naruto was right about East Blue."

"Nobody move!" a new voice yelled.

The call directed his attention to a pirate who had a gun pointed directly at the head of a aging chef.

"Gin!" the blond chef from earlier yelled angrily. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I don't want you or anyone else hurt, Sanji," Gin replied. "Just leave the ship and I'll let him go."

Taking hostages, just what Naruto would expect of pirate scum. Well, he wasn't about to let them get away with it. He summoned a clone from behind Gin, one which was immediately spotted by a number of the pirates watching the scene.

But his clone, knowing it had to act quickly, grabbed Gin's arm before a cry of warning could go up and wrenched it away from his captive. Sanji was already in motion and followed up with a powerful kick to Gin's head that sent him flying away from the man he now stood protectively over.

"Thank you for help," Sanji said to the clone. "But let me handle Gin."

Naruto was inclined to grant his request. He wouldn't want anyone barging in on a fight that was personal to him. And since his clone shared his though process, it nodded its own assent a moment later.

"Look out!" Kiba yelled from nearby, and Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see a giant morning star heading right for him.

Doubting he had time to dodge, he prepared his Tekkai only to have Luffy jump into its path and sending it hurtling right back at Krieg with his bare hands. The armored pirate dodged his own weapon, which slammed into a mast that had somehow remained standing prior to that point.

But whatever luck had saved it so far clearly had run dry, as its base splintered into pieces. Then gravity took over and sent it tumbling back toward them, creating a bridge between the Baratie and the piece of ship Krieg stood on.

"What exactly is your power?" Naruto asked curiously, impressed by the display.

"I had eaten the Gomu Gomu no Mi!" he told him. "I'm a Rubber Man—How about you?"

"I had eaten the Jufuku Jufuku no mi." Naruto replied. "It's how I created clones."

"That's pretty cool." said Luffy.

"Thanks...wanted to take down Krieg together?" Naruto asked, cracking his knuckles in anticipation.

"Sounds fun," Luffy answered cheerfully.

So the two of them charged across the mast toward the captain of the pirates. In response the man lifted his shield and fired a number of wooden stakes at the two of them. Using Soru, Naruto was able to easily avoid them, and even knocked a couple out of the way that looked like they were heading for Luffy.

"Not bad," Krieg admitted as their charge neared him. "But how will you deal with this?"

He then flipped over his cape, revealing that the now outward facing side was covered in spikes, protecting him from all sides. Naruto drew up short, trying to decide how to react. His clones would dispel instantly if they tried to attack that. But if they were careful, they could grab the spikes and toss Krieg and his stupid cape around.

But his musings became moot as Luffy hadn't paused even for a second, slamming his fist right into the spikes protecting Krieg's head and knocking the man forcefully to the ground. The blood made it clear his power didn't protect him from sharp objects, and Naruto couldn't decide whether to be impressed or appalled by Luffy's attack.

But he was able to decide on a course of action. So he quickly the shield and cloak Krieg had just dropped and tossed them into the ocean. He then summoned three clones and surrounded the pirate captain, who was just recovering from the attack.

"I'll admit I hadn't expected such a reckless assault," Krieg stated. "But don't fool yourselves into thinking you have a chance. My armor is indestructible, so you two can punch away at me all day and it won't do you any good."

"Then you won't mind if I put that to the test will you?" Naruto asked, relishing the challenge.

Naruto and his clones all charged simultaneous, hitting Krieg's armor with their strongest punches. Naruto had to admit the armor was hard, as he was now feeling a pain in his knuckles. But he was more than satisfied when several cracks appeared in the 'indestructible' armor.

"How can this be?" Krieg asked in disbelief noticing the cracks himself.

 **"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"** Luffy cried out in announcement of his own attack.

The double fist strike lifted him right off the ground and sent him flying backwards. Only the quick thinking of one his clones prevented Krieg from going over the edge as it jumped into his path and sent him back to the ground with a flying kick.

The force of the kick sent that clone into the ocean instead, the power of which instantly destroyed it. But that was a small price to pay to keep Krieg from escaping to where neither Luffy nor he could follow.

In addition, the further attacks on his armor had caused the cracks had spread to the point where the armor itself now shattered and fell off as Krieg slowly stood. Without its protection, the following minute must have been one of the worst of his life. Needless to say the pirate captain was no longer conscious after being subject to a brutal beating from the two devil fruit users.

Turning back to the Baratie he was expecting to receive shocked disbelief from Krieg's crew. But he was disappointed to see there wasn't a conscious pirate in sight. Just a pile of bodies were Kiba was stacking their limp forms. Even Gin had been dealt with, most likely by Sanji, who stood over the fallen man.

"Well, I think we did a pretty good job," Naruto declared proudly.

"Your power is great," Luffy replied. "You could be like a whole band by yourself."

"Except I don't know how to play any instruments," Naruto answered, again caught off guard by the odd boy's thought pattern.

"That's too bad," Luffy replied. "I need a musician in my crew."

"I'm going to take care of the pirates if you don't mind," Naruto told him, hoping to change the subjected before Luffy had a chance to fixate on convincing Naruto to join his crew again. "I'll make sure to tell them about your contribution if you're concerned about the bounty."

"I don't care about the the bounty," Luffy proclaimed matter-of-factly.

Ah, it was refreshing to see a bounty hunter who wasn't in it out of greed, even if he was a little off.

"Well then, it was nice meeting you but I guess this is where we part ways," he told Luffy offering his hand.

Luffy grasped the hand with a smile.

"I'm sure we'll see each other again in the Grand Line," he predicted.

 **AN**

 **Guest 1:** Thanks

 **Haoshoku Dragon:** Thanks

 **Guest 2:** If I was an ordinary civilian I was probably joined the Marines. If I was slave to asshole World Nobles or victim of Marine injustice and brutality I was become a pirate.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Loguetown**

 **East Blue Sea**

"Some party they threw us last night, huh?" Kiba asked.

It had been quite a party. After Luffy and the other left, the restaurant owner known as Zeff granted them a free all you can eat feast. Although with how much Kiba drank, Naruto had to wonder if he really recalled that fact or just assumed to be so. He might not think so fondly of it if he had a clearer recollection of his actions.

"We did save their restaurant," Naruto reminded him. "It was kind of the least they could do."

"Pity that Luffy kid had already left though," Kiba added. "He seemed like the type that would enjoy a party. Anyway, where are we headed next?"

"To the nearest marine base," Naruto answered.

"What?" Kiba asked, probably wondering if he'd heard right. "I thought we were avoiding them."

"We don't exactly have a lot of choice," he explained. "We've got a hold filled with over fifty pirates. We'll run out of food and water in no time with that many. And there wasn't exactly enough of their ship left to use our usual methods."

"There's got to be some other option," Kiba insisted. "We could just steal the ship from the next pirates we find."

"And if we don't find one before we starve to death?" Naruto asked. "A couple of missing ensigns isn't exactly a big deal. There's a good chance that even if the base we're heading to has been informed, they've forgotten all about it."

"I still don't like it," Kiba complained.

Naruto didn't like it either dreading the moment the ocean would end. But eventually it did just that, a marine base coming into view. As his clones pulled into port and docked the ship, Naruto went down to the hold and brought up Krieg. He'd take care of the most dangerous captive first, and deal with the rest later.

Seeing Krieg again, he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. He knew the man was strong, and not wanting to risk him breaking his bindings, he had gone a bit overboard with the rope and chains. He looked almost like a deformed mummy. His head was the only part left free, and that only if you didn't count the gag.

As there was no way the man could walk, Naruto lifted him over his shoulder and began to carry him away. Leaving Kiba and Akamaru behind, he left the ship, quickly being joined by an escort of marine guards when they recognized just who it was he bringing in.

He was actually grateful Kiba had talked him into changing out of his uniform when he had, as he'd had a chance to clean it to pristine shape. He was nervous enough about this as it was, he didn't need a filthy uniform to make him any more self conscious.

On a positive note, no one had yet brought up his escape from Shell Island. Not even after he'd led his captives into the base, setting bureaucrats scurrying trying to figure out what to do with Krieg. He was beginning to think he would get away with this…until someone else walked into the room.

"You!" Naruto and Nezumi yelled at the same time when they'd spotted each other.

Of all the bases he could have gone to, it just had to be this one. He recalled now that Nezumi said he had plans to work in East Blue. Naruto just wished he'd thought to check which base that was.

"I heard about how you went AWOL," Nezumi said smugly, "But I never imagined I would be able to see you brought to justice myself. Fortune must be smiling on me today."

While Nezumi surely had plenty more taunts ready, he was denied the opportunity to use them as the doors burst open allowing the entry of a highly agitated man. Although clearly older, he bore a striking resemblance to Nezumi and sported a number of fresh cuts and bruises. This must be Nezumi's father, who went by the same name if his memory served.

"Father," Nezumi called out to the man, confirming their relationship. "I caught that Naruto fugitive I told you about."

"I don't have time for your childish rivalries right now," his father snapped. "There are bigger issues at stake. I need to ... is that Don Krieg?"

Naruto was suddenly grateful no one in the base had yet figured out what to do with the man. Showing off the good he'd done may put the marine captain in a better mood to be lenient.

"Yes, sir," he answered with a salute. "He's one of the pirates I've captured since I began patrolling East Blue."

"You mean to say a punk like you managed capture such an infamous pirate?" he questioned examining Naruto as if expecting this to be some big prank.

"He does have monstrous strength," his son informed him. "But that's all the more reason to lock him up. He's a menace."

"I should listen to my son. I could have you locked up right next to your prisoners," Captain Nezumi threatened. "But I think I may be better served turning one monster against another."

"Sir?" Naruto asked hoping for clarification.

"I'll let you continue on your way," he declared. "But only if you agree to hunt down a pirate by the name of Monkey D. Luffy."

"Luffy?" Naruto questioned, wondering if there was any chance he was referring to someone else by that name. "You mean a Goofy kid that wears a straw hat and has a devil fruit power that makes him a rubber man?"

"You know him?" Nezumi asked curiously.

"I ran into him once before," Naruto admitted. "But I thought he was a bounty hunter. He was with Pirate Hunter Zoro."

"Yes, he was with Zoro," Nezumi confirmed. "But only because the Pirate Hunter has turned to piracy himself. He and his crew took out Arlong, stole all of his treasure, harassed the people Cocoyashi Village, and then attacked the marine force I was leading in an attempt to restore order. I barely escaped with my life."

Inwardly Naruto was kicking himself for not figuring this out earlier. Really, a bounty hunter who didn't care about a prize like the one offered for Krieg? He just knew there was no way a pirate would be able to collect That's why he'd let Naruto take care of them.

"I'll do it," Naruto said firmly. "I'll capture Luffy and his crew."

"If you succeed I may even see about getting you pardoned for your actions," Nezumi offered. "Although I think my son here is hoping you'll fail. I guess one of the two of us is going to get our revenge."

"I'll just have to make sure it's you then, sir," Naruto replied.

 **0o0o0**

Nojiko gasped at the figures she saw walking up the path to Cocoyashi Village. Arlong and his crew had just been defeated, what were a dozen fishmen doing here? At the head of their group was a large red fishman. Normally the fishman had at least somewhat human like faces but if you buried this one up to his neck in sand, Nojiko suspected he might be mistaken for a normal fish lying on the ground.

As they approached the small group of villagers who had been chatting with Nojiko, Genzo immediately stepped in front of her protectively. Not at all frightened by his display, the leader walked up to the heavily scarred man.

"Tell me human, what happened to Arlong Park?" he asked menacingly.

"It was destroyed," Genzo answered. "And unless you want to be taken out like your leader was, I suggest you leave town and never return."

"I know it was destroyed," the fishman snapped back. "I want to know how. And where is Arlong? I'm not idiot enough to fall for your transparent lie."

"Believe what you want," Nojiko yelled at him from behind Genzo. "But it's still the truth."

Enraged by her reply, Nojiko saw the fishman prepared to backhand her. She closed her eyes reflexively before hearing a large crash. Worried Genzo had just taken the blow for her until someone shouted "Back away from the villagers—now!"

Everyone turns around and were shock to see two marines—a blonde handsome youth and darker haired savage looking boy, along with a very large white dog, big enough to be ride on—appearing out of nowhere behind the fishmen.

"Who are you?" the red fishman sneered. "Where did you come from?"

"Someone who is going to kick your ass!" the blonde one retort.

Hearing that, all the fishmen laughed at the bold proclaim.

"Kick my ass? Don't me laugh human!" red fishman mocked. "I can easily crush you with one punch!

"Is that so?" the marine asked almost mockingly. "Then why don't you show me what you're made of?"

Everyone looked at the blonde marine as if he was insane. The red fishman gave him an evil smile as he replied "Heh, just remember human that you asked for it!"

Walking up to his challenger, the difference in their size became very apparent. The blond wasn't at all short by human standards, looking to be about six feet tall. But the fishman stood almost a foot taller and had to weigh at least twice as much. And he intended to take advantage of that fact, throwing his whole body into a single punch aimed at the young man's chest.

Nojiko cringed as the marine made no attempt to dodge the attack as it barreled in. But rather than breaking ribs and knocking the smaller of the combatants away, the fishman's fist halted abruptly when it struck him.

"You call that a punch?" the blond mocked, appearing completely unphased by the attack. " _This_ is a punch."

So saying, he threw a right hook at the fishman, although it almost turned into an uppercut given the differences in their height. But whatever kind of punch that was, it connecting to the side of his target's face, twisting his whole body to the side and sending him cartwheeling several yards before he came to a stop.

When it became clear that he wasn't getting up again, the rest of his friends looked back at the marine with angry eyes and one of them snarl "You bastard—you're going pay for that—Get him!"

Yet a couple minutes later, all the fishmen pirates were brutally beaten to the ground, next to the feet of the three victors. Soon, all of the villagers swarmed the marines.

"That's was amazing!" one of them called out. "Especially that punch you pulls off earlier."

"That wasn't anything impressive," the darker haired boy insisted, sounding a little jealous of the attention his companion was getting. "They were all really weak. Naruto was just showing off."

"Well then, Naruto," Genzo stated walking over to the boys himself. "We're just grateful you and ..."

"Kiba," Naruto provided. "And the dog is Akamaru."

"Yes," Genzo gratefully, "that you, Kiba, and Akamaru here showed up. If there's anything we can do to repay you, just let us know."

"Actually, we're here looking for a dangerous pirate by the name of Monkey D. Luffy," Naruto told them. "We heard he and his crew caused you some trouble and we'd appreciate any information you might have on where they went. Or perhaps a description of their ship if anyone got a look at it."

The villagers quickly grew silent at the revelation that their current saviors were hunting their previous saviors.

"But Luffy is ... hey!" Genzo said.

The sentence may have made more sense if Nojiko hadn't 'accidentally' stomped on his foot rather hard part way through.

"Sorry," she pretended to apologize. "But as Genzo was saying, Luffy is very dangerous. You should avoid him for your own good."

"He doesn't worry us," Kiba boasted. " We're combat specialists from marine headquarters. You barely saw a fraction of what we can do just now."

"Is that so?" Nojiko asked sweetly. "Then did Captain Nezumi send you after Luffy?"

"That's right," Naruto confirmed. "He specially charged us with bringing Luffy to justice."

"In that case, I'll be happy to tell you what their ship looks like," Nojiko told them. "It's a large vessel, painted completely black, with blood red sails. And it must have at least two dozen cannons."

"That certainly sounds unique," Naruto answered. "Now do you have any idea where he's heading next?"

"And I don't know where they're headed, but they sailed off to the East," Nojiko lied.

"Well they're probably trying to throw off pursuit then," Naruto told his companion. "He was quite clear he was heading toward the Grand Line. We may be able to beat him to the entrance if we hurry."

Nojiko silently cursed that she hadn't been able to throw them off the trail, but at least they seemed to have believed her about the ship. But she realized there might be another way she could help her sister."

"Please, if you're going after them, take me with you," Nojiko requested.

"What are you talking about?!" Genzo yelled out in surprise. "Do you know how dangerous it would be to go with them?"

"Yes, a marine vessel is no place for a civilian," Naruto replied.

But his partner immediately pulled him to the side and began whispering furiously at him.

" ... no rule against it ... crazy not to ... hot ... just look at her ..." were some of the pieces she managed to catch Kiba saying.

It was easy to see he was trying to change Naruto's mind and exactly why he was doing so. So she did her best to smile cutely whenever they looked her way. But despite Kiba's best effort, he seemed unable to sway the other marine.

"I'm sorry, it's just too dangerous," he told her.

If he wasn't going to cave that easily then it was time for Nojiko to kick the act up a notch.

"I didn't want to tell you this," she began melodramatically, "but Luffy and his crew took my little sister. I know I may not be much help in a fight, but I ... I just can't sit here and do nothing."

A pretty good performance if she said so herself. She could see that Naruto was wavering. Now to go in for the kill. Getting down on her knees she looked up at him pleadingly and even succeeded in producing a couple of crocodile tears.

"I'm a pretty good cook," she informed them in mock desperation. "Or I could help clean. I'll find some way to contribute. Please just take me with you."

She could tell by the look on his face that she'd already won. It seemed that, like most men, he was unable to say no to a woman in tears.

"Fine," he finally answered. "We'll give you twenty minutes to gather your things and say your goodbyes. If you're not back here by then we're leaving without you."

"Thank you. You won't regret this," she told him turning to head to her house, more to hide the smirk she was struggling to suppress than out of any real hurry.

But then again, maybe she should hurry. Twenty minutes wasn't a lot of time. Not wanting to waste it, she ran back to her house and began to quickly pack her things. About a minute into the process Genzo walked in.

"What was that all about?" he asked her disapprovingly.

"You're the one who was about to declare yourself a pirate sympathizer to a couple of thugs sent by Nezumi," Nojiko fired back.

"That's not the point," Genzo answered a little sheepishly. "What makes you think going with them is a good idea? Even if you can send them on a wild goose chase, they're hardly the only marines around."

"Maybe not, but they do seem pretty strong," Nojiko argued, "And they're hunting Luffy specifically."

"And what happens if they ever find out what you're doing?" Genzo countered. "It's too dangerous."

"I'll be careful," she replied stubbornly.

They proceeded to lock stares in a contest of wills. But Genzo was the one to give up first, turning away with a sigh.

"It's alright," he told her. "I know what this is really about."

"What do you mean?" Nojiko asked in confusion.

"It's easy to see," he told her. "Your little sister is off having wild adventures, and you're still here with little more than a boring old man to keep you company. It's no wonder you'd jump at a chance to head out into the world yourself."

"You're not boring," she answered, trying to raise his spirits.

But inwardly she wondered if he was right. She had been a little envious of Nami going off to travel the world. Maybe she'd let that subconsciously cloud her judgment.

"Don't change your mind on my account," he said in a rather abrupt about face from his previous position. "It'll be lonely with both of you girls gone, I'll admit. But I don't want you blaming me for having missed this opportunity."

"What happened to it being too dangerous?" she asked him.

"I didn't want you to go," he admitted. "But in all honesty, those two boys seem decent enough folk. Really, I can't see it being nearly as dangerous as joining a pirate crew. Just take care of yourself."

"I will," she promised him, giving him a quick hug.

Then finishing her preparations, she made it back to where Naruto and Kiba were waiting, and still had a few minutes to spare before her deadline. Nojiko was glad to see them, worrying a bit on the way back that Naruto would have changed his mind and used the opportunity to leave her behind.

"Ready to go?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah, let's head out," she suggested.

Nojiko hadn't expected to depart Cocoyashi Village herself so soon after Nami had. But she was looking forward to swapping adventure stories with her sister some day. Although if Nojiko had anything to do with it, that day would be far off, as she was going to do her best to keep these marines far away from her sister.

This is your ship?" Nojiko asked in surprise the moment they arrived at his ship.

The black sailed vessel she stood in front of looked nothing like any marine ship she'd ever seen.

"Yeah, we captured it from some pirates," Naruto informed her. "We decided we might as well put it to use, but we haven't had a chance to repaint the sails yet."

"Are the marines really so hard up for ships they couldn't give you one of their own?" Nojiko queried.

"That's ... a bit of a long story," Naruto told her hesitantly.

"Yeah, nothing you need to worry about," Kiba added, looking decidedly nervous.

They were obviously hiding something from her, but she decided not to press the subject. After all, she wasn't being entirely open with them. So instead she boarded the ship, dragging the suitcase she'd packed behind her.

"There are a number of empty quarters below deck," Naruto told Nojiko after following her aboard. "Feel free to claim whichever one you want."

Thanking him, she decided to take him up on his offer, heading down the stairs and below deck. The hold contained a number of crates and barrels and quite a bit of rope and chain. Looking around she was wondering which room she should check first when one of the doors began to open.

Did they have another crew member on board? But the person who walked out of the room was Naruto. How had he gotten down here before her?

"What are you doing down here?" he demanded of her.

"You ... um ... told me to pick a room." she replied, still trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Oh? I did?" he asked her. "Does that mean you're coming with us?"

"Uh ... yes?" she replied, her confusion causing her response to come out as more of a question than a statement.

"Did you pick out your room yet?" a familiar voice asked from behind her.

Spinning around quickly to face back toward the stairs she confirmed it was indeed Naruto, dragging the still unconscious fishmen behind him. She turned back and forth between the two Narutos several times to confirm she wasn't seeing things.

"Ah, so you're identical twins?" she asked, glad to have a logical explanation for Naruto's earlier positional and behavioral changes.

"Not exactly," the Naruto by the stairs answered. "It's probably easiest if I just showed you."

Nojiko jumped as two more Narutos popped into existence next to her without warning. Poking one of the new additions, she confirmed it felt solid. Then as one, the two new ones and the one that had first started this situation by coming out of the room vanished.

"Pretty neat, huh?" Naruto said proudly.

"You know, I'm going to go pick my room now," Nojiko answered. "I could certainly use bed to lie down on."

"You better get used to strange things," Naruto advised. "Lots of people on the Grand Line have devil fruit powers. Any many of their powers are even more unusual than mine."

A couple of days ago, she'd been sure stories about devil fruit were simply myths. Now she'd personally seen the powers of two people who had consumed them. One of whom she was traveling with to a place where such people were common. Just what had she gotten herself into?

 **0o0o0**

Naruto stood at the bow of the ship enjoying the sea breeze. One good thing that had come out of his meeting with the two Nezumis was that he'd had a chance to get some spare uniforms. He just felt more comfortable wearing one for some reason. He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see they belonged to Nojiko.

He still had reservations about bringing a civilian. And they were only magnified by how shell-shocked the blue haired young woman had been the other day when she'd first learned about his power. Thankfully, by the next morning it appeared she had fully recovered. She even took Akamaru's devil fruit power in stride.

"So, how much do you know about Luffy's crew?" Nojiko asked him.

"Well there's Pirate Hunter Zoro and some long nosed kid named Usopp," he counted off. "There was a couple of bounty hunters named Yosaku and Johnny and a cook by the name of Sanji who associated with him. But I'm not sure if they're members of his crew or not."

"I guess you already know about all of them I got a look at," Nojiko told him. "I was hoping I could help you there."

"Don't worry, we'll find them," Naruto promised her.

But she didn't seem terribly comforted by his assurance. Poor girl was probably still worried about what the pirates would do to her sister.

"Anyway, you said you hadn't been able to repaint the sails yet," Nojiko stated. "Is there any reason for that?"

"We don't have any paint," he answered.

"I thought that might be it," she said cheerfully. "We really should get some, unless you want to risk other marines mistaking you for pirates."

"Yeah, we'll get around to that when we have some time," he replied.

"I also couldn't find any spare lumber," she added. "What are we going to do if the ship needs repairs? And you don't have much variety in food. I said I could cook but I can't exactly work miracles. You know, we could stop back at my village quickly. I'm sure everyone would be happy to give us the supplies we need after how you helped us."

"Turning back now is too far out of our way," Naruto pointed out.

Nojiko looked disappointed by his pronouncement, and he wondered if she might be feeling a bit homesick already. She could be beating around the bush, not wanting to admit that openly after the scene she made the other day.

"You know, if you're having second thoughts about leaving home, I'm sure we can find someone who will take you back," he offered.

"No, it's not that," she quickly answered. "I just think we need to be fully prepared. You said yourself the Grand Line is a dangerous place."

"Actually," Naruto replied thoughtfully, "Loguetown should be only about an hour from here. We could stop there and get supplies without losing much time."

"That sounds great," Nojiko cheerfully declared.

"Besides, there's a good chance Luffy and his crew will stop in Loguetown as well," he told her.

"Oh? Why is that?" she asked, tensing up a bit.

It seemed however much she wanted to save her sister, she still grew nervous at the thought of facing the pirates again. Not that he could blame her. An ordinary civilian would be no match for even normal pirates. And Luffy was no normal pirate.

"It's the birthplace and execution site of Gold Rogers," Naruto answered. "It's almost like a tourist spot for pirates."

"In that case, do you mind if I take a turn in the crow's nest?" Nojiko queried. "I'm the most likely to recognize their ship if we come across it."

"Go right ahead," he responded.

As Nojiko climb up to the crow's nest Naruto suddenly heard his father "She's lying."

Turning around, Naruto faces his father with a confused look and says "What?"

"She's hiding something." Minato told his son.

"Why would she lying dad?" Naruto challenged his father on that subject.

"That's for you to figure it out." Minato retort.

Naruto got angry and snap "Why are you even here dad—to drive me crazy?"

"My question is why'd are you chasing Monkey D. Luffy Naruto?" his father asked his son on that subject.

"Because he's is a pirate dad!" Naruto replied. "And I'm a marine who is supposed to bring him to Justice."

"You fought alongside him protecting the Baratie from Don Krieg and his pirates." Minato pointed out.

"That's before I Knew he was a pirate." said Naruto.

"A pirate who risks his life to saved others." Minato confirmed.

"He kidnapped a girl." Naruto stated.

"Do you really believe that?" Minato asked.

"I had orders dad." Naruto protested.

"From that rat-weasel called Nezumi?" Minato alleged. "Deep down you know he's lying. There is more than meets the eye."

"I won't deny the man is rat-weasel dad." Naruto said, getting annoyed. "But what would you do if you were if my position?"

"Uh Naruto?" Nojiko calls down from the crow's nest. "Who are you talking to?"

 **0o0o0**

As they neared Loguetown, Nojiko examined the other ships in dock through the telescope. Sure enough, there was the Going Merry. Of all the rotten luck. Why did she have to suggest this in the first place? But there was still hope the two parties wouldn't run into other. After all, her companions just wanted to get in, get their supplies, and leave as quickly as possible.

"Their ship isn't here," she yelled down down to Naruto, who was at the helm.

Or maybe it was one his clones? She hadn't figured out a way to tell the difference.

"But it looks like there's another port further north," she added. "We should check there as well."

"Setting course now," he yelled back.

Unsurprisingly there was no ship in the northern dock that matched the false description she'd given them. So she climbed back down to the deck as the ship was docked. Phase one of her plan was a success. Now she just needed to make sure they didn't bump into anyone from Luffy's crew.

But this was a pretty big town, so what were the odds of that? She just needed to try to convince them to stick together. If they split up she wouldn't be able to keep an eye on both marines.

"Akamaru and I should stay here and guard the ship," Kiba suggested.

"Yes!" Nojiko responded but winced as she realized she sounded far too excited about that. "I mean, that's a good idea."

If they thought it odd, they didn't say anything. And it certainly made her job easier to only have one of them running around town. So leaving with Naruto, they made their way into town.

"So, do you and your sister have any family back in Cocoyashi Village?" Naruto inquired.

"No," she answered solemnly. "Our mother was killed when Arlong took over our village. We don't have any family left but each other."

"Sorry," Naruto replied. "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"Don't worry about it," she told him. "It happened a long time ago. Not that you ever truly get over it."

"I know what you mean," he replied. "I'm an orphan too. My father died over a decade ago. You learn to deal with it, but you never really stop missing them."

Looking down a side street to her right, her eyes went wide. She'd let herself get too caught up in their conversation and forgotten what she was supposed to be doing here. Now Zoro was running directly their way. Frantically scanning the area, she spotted a shop that looked promising, grabbed Naruto's hand, and dragged him inside.

"What's the big rush?" Naruto asked her after they were safely inside.

"Ah, just excited about shopping," she answered nervously. "You know how women get about shopping."

Inwardly she kicked herself for coming up with such a lame excuse.

"You're excited about buying lumber?" he asked dubiously as he examined the contents of the hardware store they'd entered.

"They have paint too," she quickly pointed out, grabbing up a large can of white paint and trying to smile convincingly.

Eventually he nodded and went around looking for the wood and tools they would need.

"That's all you're buying?" Nojiko asked when she saw him preparing to make his purchases.

"It seems like enough for now," he answered.

"It's better to err on the side of caution," she told him, and proceeded to grab up lumber from around the store and add it to the stack he was carrying.

Soon it was piled high enough that it blocked his vision. That should help if they have any more unlucky encounters. Naruto paid for their supplies and managed to maneuver his way outside the shop again.

"This is a lot of stuff," he complained. "I'm going to get some clones to help me."

"No!" she ordered quickly. "I mean you don't want to cause a scene do you? Not everyone is used to seeing devil fruit powers."

"I guess not," he admitted. "But I can't even see where I'm going."

"Don't worry. I'll guide you," she assured him.

Now they just needed to get some food and they could leave. Wait, there was Zoro again, running toward them from directly ahead. Not having time to be choosy this time. She twisted Naruto sideways and shoved him through the nearest door, following him inside.

"What are we doing in a clothing store?" he asked.

"I need to buy a raincoat," she lied. "It looks like it's going to rain."

"The sky looked clear to me," Naruto countered.

"Just trust me, I know these things," she insisted. "You should probably buy one too."

"I'll risk it," he responded.

So she began to look over raincoats. When she concluded she'd stalled long enough to give the green haired swordsman plenty of time to get out of the area, she selected a dark purple coat and purchased it.

Continuing on their shopping trip, she located a grocery store and led Naruto inside. The place seemed to have a pretty nice selection. Fruits, vegetables, a wide variety of spices, a blond cook. Wait ... a blond cook?! Looking again she confirmed that was indeed Sanji shopping in the same store as them.

At least his back was turned so he hadn't seen them yet. Running over to him, she shoved him to the ground behind an aisle. That would hide him from Naruto's view if he peeked out from around the lumber.

"Close your eyes and wait there quietly for a minute," she whispered to Sanji in her most sultry tone. "I have a surprise for you that I know you'll enjoy."

Sanji actually listened to her without even glancing back to see who had said it. So she left the now grinning fool there and went back to Naruto.

"This store doesn't look very good," she whispered to him. "We should go to another one."

"Why are we whispering?" he asked.

"Because it would be rude if the owner of the store heard me insult it," she told him.

Leading him back to the door, she started to walk out but came to a sudden stop when she saw Zoro run by a third time. What on earth was he doing? She watched him run into an alley a short distance away and again began to leave the store.

But she came up short a second time when Zoro ran right back out of the same alley he'd just entered. That's it, she was going to kill that idiot.

"What do you keep stopping for?" Naruto asked.

"There's a crowd outside," Nojiko claimed. "I just don't want you bumping into them. Don't worry though, they're moving on."

Her luck from that point improved a little. She was able to find another grocery store and buy some food and spices without running into any other familiar faces. And surprisingly, it had started pouring while they'd been in the store.

"Looks like you were right about the rain," Naruto conceded.

"Next time you'll know not to doubt me," she answered with a small laugh.

It figured that the only luck she'd have today was being right about the bad weather. At least she had her rain coat. Setting down the groceries she was carrying, she took her coat out of its bag and began to put it on. Meanwhile Naruto had managed to find his way outside and was already being soaked by the rain.

"Stop that pirate!" a feminine voice cried out.

Despite the fact she'd only gotten as far as putting one arm into the sleeve of her new coat, Nojiko ran outside in response to the call. But she was relieved to see it wasn't one of Luffy's crew, instead being a man with a big red nose who looked more like a clown than a pirate.

Turning sidewise so he could get a look at the man, Naruto moved in front of his path to block him. But instead of a collision, the pirate split into pieces. His upper body flew over Naruto's head while his feet ran right between his legs.

She watched his parts reattach themselves on the other side and continued running toward the docks. She still wasn't used to seeing devil fruit powers on display. But turning back, she saw that the woman who had called out hadn't slowed her own run and crashed into Naruto. Both of them went sprawling with the lumber and tools Naruto was carrying tumbling all over the place, along with the sword the woman had been wielding.

"Naruto?" the dark haired woman asked they recovered.

"Tenten?" he replied.

Apparently the two of them knew each other.

"Ah, I don't have time for this," Tenten cried out, jumping to her feet. "Buggy is getting away."

She then ran off after the departing form of the pirate.

"I'm going to help her," Naruto informed Nojiko.

In a flash, two clones where next to Nojiko gathering up the fallen supplies while the real Naruto ran off after Tenten. Not wanting to be left behind, Nojiko got up and followed after him. As she ran she got her other arm into her rain coat so it wouldn't drag behind her, but didn't see the point in buttoning it up, as she was already soaked.

It quickly became obvious that even her top speed wasn't enough to keep up. Naruto was gaining on Tenten, but both of them were pulling further ahead of her.

"Wait for me!" she called out.

Glancing back, Naruto summoned a third clone. The clone scooped her up in its arms without warning and ran with her in pursuit of the original Naruto. She struggled reflexively for a moment before calming down.

As embarrassing as it was, this was the only way she'd be able to keep from getting left behind. Still, being carried through the street, soaking wet, was not how she'd envisioned the day going.

 **0o0o0**

Buggy and their crew had made it back to their ship and sailed off as quickly as they could hoist the anchor. As they pulled away he let out a sigh of relief for having escaped that island.

"Captain, a ship just left the dock in pursuit of us," Mohji informed him.

Grabbing a telescope, he looked at the ship himself, worried Smoker was coming after him. But in all the rain he wasn't able to make out who was on board.

"Keep running," he ordered, deciding to play it safe.

But the other ship proved faster, slowly gaining on them. Still, as they distance shrunk he was able to get a better look at their pursuers. He didn't see Smoker anywhere on the other ship. It was just that guns girl who'd styles her hair in a two Chinese-style buns fashion, along with a few young marines. He got nothing to fear from her or them.

"Bring us about," he ordered. "Prepare to open fire."

Turning the ship until their port cannons were facing the other vessel, they fired three shots. Two of them went wide to either side. However, Buggy was please to see the third taking a trajectory that would have it land right on top of a blond marine standing at the bow of their ship.

Seeing it hit he turned to Cabaji beside him.

"That's was almost too gruesome to w… HE CAUGHT IT?!"

What kind of a person could catch a cannonball with their bare hands? Still he couldn't protect the entire ship at once.

"Keep firing," he ordered. "I want that ship—GAH!"

The end of his order was cut off as he was forced to dodge the cannonball the young man had just caught. He'd thrown it back at him?! Examining the hole left in his deck, he struggled to get his heart rate back under control realizing how close that had come to hitting him.

Of course with Buggy's ship no longer fleeing, the other vessel was closing rapidly. And while he was still trying to recover from the shock of the most recent attack, his attacker himself landed on the Big Top's deck.

"You're boarding my ship?" Buggy mocked the blond. "Do you really think one person can take on my entire crew?"

"Let measure game fairly?" he says as ten more blonds popped into existence around him.

That made ten copies of a boy that could catch a cannonball and throw it back. As he was realizing that, another boy, a large dog, and that gun girl from before all jumped across, the two ships now having been pulled up next to each other.

"My crew is still more than capable of handling you themselves," he said as quickly flew up above the ship and out of range.

"Captain Buggy!" several of them cried out in protest.

But they weren't given much time for protest as they were attacked by their opponents. It's not like they had any room for complaint in the first place. He was just more valuable coordinating the fight from up here where he could get a good view.

"You call yourself a lion?" he yelled at Richie. "How can you be losing to a dog?"

There, see? His motivational speaking would be the key to their victory. He spotted someone else who looked to be in need of his help.

"First Zoro and now you're losing to a woman, Cabaji?" he berated.

Although oddly enough, while he'd been trying to motivate Cabaji, the woman was the one who seemed to be fighting harder in response to his call.

"Stop lying around and get up!" he ordered his crew, as the majority of those cowards were no longer participating, instead being sprawled out on the ground.

It was then he noticed one of the blonds was standing over his feet, which were still back on the deck, examining them curiously.

"Don't touch those!" he screamed.

"Oh?" the boy said in response. "You mean I shouldn't do this?"

He then stomped down on one of them hard, and Buggy was sure he felt some of the bones snap from the impact. Furious at the boy for the assault he flew down and got right into his face.

"I told you not to do that!" he screeched.

But the blond just smiled and it was then he came to the realization that he was now only inches from the person he'd flown up to avoid. The last thing he remembered was a fist heading for his face.

 **0o0o0**

"I want to thank you again for your help, Naruto," Tenten told him. "Without the use of your ship, Buggy and his crew would have gotten away."

"Just doing my duty," he told her. "Anyway there's no reason you can't take these three back by yourself."

The three he was referring to were Buggy, Cabaji, and Mohji, the three leaders of the Buggy Pirates. Buggy was wrapped up in Kairōseki chain net, which were they put in a large sack that Naruto was carrying to make sure no body parts got away. The other two were more traditionally bound and walking behind them.

"Nonsense," she told him. "This is the second event I owe you big for. I'm not letting you go without meeting my Captain. I'll make sure he puts you in for a commendation."

Naruto acquiesced, but still didn't look happy. He must be one of those people who just weren't comfortable with praise. They soon entered the base, allowing themselves to get out of the storm. Another marine approached the two of them plus three captives as they dripped all over the entranceway.

"We've recaptured Buggy the Clown," she informed him. "Where are Captain Smoker and Ensign Tashigi?"

"We're sorry, Ensign Tenten," he replied. "But they left town to chase after Straw Hat Luffy and his crew. They were looking for you before they left, but no one could find you."

She'd been left behind? That's just great.

"Wait," Naruto said to the man, "Luffy was here in Loguetown?"

"Yeah, but he managed to escape," the marine responded. "Why? Have you run into them before?"

"We were chasing after the Straw Hat Pirates as well," Naruto answered. "But we didn't know they were here on the island."

"You're after them too?" asked Tenten. "If that's the case I have a favor to ask you. Please, take me with you."

"Uh, I don't know if that's a good idea," he replied, looking nervous.

"I know I'm the one who owes you," she admitted, "so I shouldn't be asking for more favors. But please, I have to catch up to Captain Smoker and Ensign Tashigi in the Grand Line."

He still appeared to be mulling over the idea, probably wondering if she'd be worth taking. Crashing into him earlier probably hadn't made the best impression.

"Come on Naruto," she told him. "You've seen me fight and know I'm pretty good sniper. I'm sure I can help you out when meet up with Captain Smoker and Ensign Tashigi ."

"That's not what I'm worried about," he reassured her. "It's just … oh what the hell…forget about it. If you're that determined to come, I'd be happy to have you along."

"Thank you," Tenten replied graciously. "You won't regret this. I'll find a way to pay you back for everything someday. I'll just grab a couple of things and meet you at the ship."

As Tenten turned around leave to get her things an angry Buggy yelled at Naruto from in the sack "You bastard! You're going to pay for this! When I get out of here I'll make you pay for that."

"Oh, you want a rematch?" Naruto asked threateningly.

"I'm sorry," Buggy quickly answered. "I didn't mean to say that!"

"Smart!" Naruto replied.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto saw Tenten making her way through the rain to the ship, carrying a satchel over her shoulder. The worst of the storm seemed to have passed, but there was still a good amount of rain falling. He greeted her as she came aboard the vessel.

"We didn't have time for proper introductions before," he declared. "But this is Ensign Kiba, Akamaru, and Nojiko."

Tenten nodded to each one as he introduced them.

"Everyone, this is Ensign Tenten," he continued. "She'll be joining our crew. I'm sorry this isn't the best weather for a welcoming party."

"Nice job finding her," Kiba whispered approvingly to Naruto.

"I'm sorry," Tenten said, addressing Nojiko, "but I didn't catch your rank."

"I'm not in the marines," Nojiko replied simply. "I'm just serving as a cook."

"Nojiko's sister was captured by the Straw Hat Pirates," Naruto added. "She's come along to help rescue her."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Tenten told her, "But I promise I'll do my best to help bring them to justice."

"Yeah … thanks," Nojiko replied with a strained smile. "That's … uh … just what I wanted to hear."

Naruto nodded; impressed she was trying to put on a front of cheerfulness for Tenten's sake when the thought of her sister being held by pirates obviously made her uneasy.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did you get your own ship already?" Tenten inquired.

He did mind her asking, but Naruto wasn't about to say that. Nojiko, however, was kind enough to answer for him while he was still deliberating how best to respond.

"A marine captain by the name of Nezumi sent them after Luffy," she said. "He got beat up by the Straw Hat Pirates himself, so he sent some combat specialists after them."

"That makes sense," she replied to Naruto's relief. "I've seen Naruto fight on more than one occasion and he's very impressive."

"I'm really strong too, you know," Kiba claimed. "Buggy's crew was just too weak for you to see what I can really do."

"Ah, I wasn't implying you weren't," she assured Kiba. "I just didn't get much of a chance to see you fighting in all the chaos."

"Well forgive me for not having a flashy power or anything," responded Kiba petulantly.

"Now that we're all acquainted, let's shove off," Naruto ordered. "The longer we delay, the further behind we get."

As everyone got ready to leave the dock Naruto's father suddenly appeared and says "You're playing with fire son. It's bad enough you had to go AWOL, but what is worse is that you're dragging those that follow you into the heart of the inferno."

"I didn't force them to follow me dad." Naruto argued. "They choose to follow me on their own free will."

"That's because they look up to you out of respect and admiration Naruto." Minato talked own on him. "Kiba could stay behind at Shell Island yet his high opinion to you convinces him to go AWOL as well. And that girl Tenten…you didn't tell her that you stolen ship to go AWOL."

"I'll tell her later." Naruto shot back.

"And when is that going happened?" Minato questioned his son. "Will it be when you get caught by marines and arrested for going AWOL…or when you run into a pirate you can't handle!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Arriving In the Grand Line**

 **East Blue Sea**

Before the paint had even finished drying, Reverse Mountain came into sight. It was then his clone up in the crow's nest pointed out an oddity to him. Off to the side, a fair ways from the entrance was a small marine vessel that appeared to have crashed into the side of the mountain. The currents were supposed to be tricky around the entrance, but they were crashed pretty far off for them to have simply been pushed away by the currents. Either way he decided to investigate and see if they needed help.

"I can see Reverse Mountain," Naruto says as he stares into the looking glass. "And we're getting closer to it by the minute."

"I heard about Reverse Mountain," said Tenten. "That place is unique in that rivers from the Blues flow up the mountain, meet at the top, and then flow down into the Grand Line."

"Yeah, but not to mention it can be very dangerous when trying sails it." Kiba added.

"What do you mean?" Nojiko asked.

"Pirates would try to use this entrance to get to the Grand Line," Naruto told her. "However many of them die before they can even get up to the top of the mountain, because the hostile water currents and storms force them to crash into the mountain walls.

"If it so dangerous why are we still heading towards it?" Nojiko asked.

"Because I've got a plan to pull this off…that's why." Naruto revealed.

As the ship drew closer to Reverse Mountain entrance, Naruto took the helm and approached the treacherous waters at the entrance of Reverse Mountain. After getting a good look at where they were headed, Kiba came up to him nervously.

"You sure you can handle this," he asked. "This isn't exactly your specialty."

"No it isn't," he admitted. "But I have a plan. Look."

Kiba directed his focus at the bow of the ship where Naruto was pointing. There, he had four clones leaning over the edge and examining the water.

"I don't get it," Kiba admitted.

"Then just watch. We're about to enter." Naruto told him, not having time to explain.

They were all closely watching the position of the rocks and examining the currents. Every so often, one of his clones would vanish, instantly giving him the memory of what it had just seen. Which allowed him to quickly react accordingly and steer the ship? He would then summon another which would take its place.

It was still difficult to pull off. Kiba was right, this wasn't his specialty. But he made it through the gates unscathed and from there the current did most of the work itself. Everyone was gathered around him on the deck watching the ship go up the mountain appreciatively.

"This is amazing," Nojiko declared excitedly. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I haven't either," Tenten admitted. "I traveled through the Calm Belt to get to East Blue."

Soon they reached the apex and began their descent toward the Grand Line. He could see his ocean of birth coming into view, but that wasn't the only thing. Waiting at the bottom was a large marine vessel. He saw Kiba growing nervous beside him, but tried to stay calm himself. They didn't know what it was there for.

When they hit the bottom and entered the Grand Line, the other ship began to approach them. Drawing up on the port side of their own ship, he saw a marine officer standing by the starboard railing looking at him.

"Ensign Naruto D. Namikaze and Ensign Kiba Inuzuka." said the marine officer. "We're under orders to arrested you and escort your ship back to base."

"Well, that just perfect?" Kiba cried out loud. "What do we do?"

"We follow them," Naruto replied. "We knew this was going to happen sooner or later, it's time to face the music."

Turning back to the officer on the other ship Naruto called out his response. "Understood sir…We'll follow behind you."

The marine vessel began to sail deeper into the Grand Line, and Naruto matched the ship's heading and sailed after it. Their two most recent additions to the crew were understandably confused about what was going on. Tenten, however, was the first to ask about it.

"What were you two talking about?" she inquired. "And do you have any idea what that was about?"

"I guess there's no point in hiding it anymore," Naruto replied. "It's true that Captain Nezumi sent us after the Straw Hat Pirates. But he didn't give us this ship."

"Then who did?" she asked curiously.

"Actually, we just sort of took it," he admitted. "They wanted it destroyed anyway, so it's not like we really stole it. I think they're more upset with us leaving without telling anyone."

"You mean you're just a couple of rogue marines?" Nojiko interjected.

"It's not like that," Kiba said defensively. "Our commanding officer was imprisoned before we even arrived at our first assignment. The place was in chaos and they didn't even know what to do with us. So we just decided for them."

"Don't worry," Naruto assured them. "We'll make it clear that neither of you two knew anything about this."

"What possessed you to do it in the first place?" Tenten asked. "You had to know you would get caught eventually."

"It just felt like something I had to do," Naruto replied honestly. "I am sorry I won't be able to return you to your captain. But maybe they'll be able to locate him at the base."

"You should be more worried about yourself," she snapped back, surprising Naruto with the force of her reply. "You could have ruined a promising career with your decision. If you don't follow the rules, you're no better than a bounty hunter no matter how many pirates you capture."

Having said her piece, she stormed off and went below deck without even giving him a chance to reply. Naruto was still stunned by the strength of her reaction. He certainly wasn't expecting praise, but that seemed a bit much to him.

And now the part he was really dreading. With Tenten practically biting his head off, he could only imagine how Nojiko would react to this. After all, her sister's life was on the line.

"I guess I owe you an even larger apology," he told Nojiko. "I got your hopes up and now I won't be able do anything for your sister."

"Don't worry about it," she answered without a hint of recrimination. "I'm sure you did the best you could. And it's not like you would have been able to do anything for her if you hadn't taken this ship. Besides, Nami is resourceful, I'm sure she'll be fine."

Okay, now he was really confused. The person he was just giving a ride to was furious with him, and the one with a sister he'd failed to save wasn't upset at all.

"I just want to remind you, this was all your idea," Kiba declared.

Kiba on the other hand was completely predictable. Maybe it was just women being naturally incomprehensible.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto continued following the marine ship in front of them lifelessly. Not even the crazy weather they ran into early in the Grand Line was able to bring him out of his funk. But what was worse was the waiting for the conclusion to come. He needed to find something to take his mind off this mess or he'd go crazy.

He remembered seeing some guns and targets down in the hold when he was taking inventory. He preferred using his fists, but maybe some target practice would make a decent distraction. Heading down to the hold he found the items he was looking for.

There were three straw targets and a big stack of paper with circles painted around a bullseye. You could drape the paper of the targets and replace them when they became too riddled with holes. He also grabbed a handgun and a good supply of bullets.

Going back above deck he gave each of the three targets to a clone to hold over the railing. But after shooting for several minutes it became evident this wasn't helping his mood. He'd only managed to hit the bullseye once.

Tenten had been right. No matter how boring it would have been, he should have just stayed on Shell Island. If he'd just been patient and worked hard, eventually things would have worked out. But he couldn't take back what he'd done. Now he'd just have to hope he wasn't kicked out of the marines.

"Don't get you hope up." said Minato who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "The marines never forgive me for going AWOL from my mission so in order to punish a dead man they reduce my rank from Admiral to Commodore."

"But it wasn't fair dad." Naruto pointed out. "You left because Leaf Island was attacked and endanger."

"Nothing in life is fair Naruto," said Minato. "I knew the consequences if I choose to cease chasing after Shanks so I can return home to save you and rest of Leaf Island and I accepted it. So are you ready to accept the consequences for leaving Shell Island without permission?"

"Yeah—no—it's juts," Naruto tries to explain. "There is so much I needed to do in the Marines like redeeming your good name."

"Redeeming me?" Minato repeated.

"Yeah," said Naruto, trying to explain. "You were a hero of the marines' dad. I know going AWOL was sin to the marines, but don't you think the brass could understand the reason you had go saved Leaf Island?"

"Maybe some marine officers might understand what I did," Minato said. "But others with their way of thinking would think otherwise and will never take kindly of what I did. The rest are bounded by traditional rules which they had no choice to condemn me for my actions…such as you had no choice but get in line and follow the rules."

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked looking confused.

"Naruto?" said a female voice from behind.

Naruto turn around and sees Nojiko right there behind him.

"Are you all right?" Nojiko asked, looking at him strangely.

"I'm fine." He lied, trying to hide the fact he was talking to his imaginary father who was dead.

"Who were you talking to?" she asked him as she looked around. "Is someone in this room with you?"

"Nobody!" he tries to change the subject. "I'm just training marksmanship that's all."

"Well…mind if I give it a try?" Nojiko asked from behind him.

"Go right ahead," he told her. "My focus is so off I don't know why I'm even bothering. You ever used a gun before?"

"No," she answered. "But how hard can it be? You point and you pull the trigger."

Naruto reloaded the revolver for her, while his clones put fresh targets over the straw. Handing it to Nojiko she deliberately took very careful aim at the leftmost target before pulling the trigger. Checking where it had hit, he saw she was a little low and to the left, but only two circles from the bullseye.

"Not bad for your first time firing a gun," he told her encouragingly. "Try it again."

Firing a second shot, he saw that she'd overcompensated, going high and to the right, but was only one circle of from the center this time.

"I think I've got it now," she said confidently.

Naruto chuckled a bit at that.

"That was a nice shot," he admitted, "but you'll find that being consistent with your aim isn't as easy as it looks. If it only took two shots to get your aim down ..."

"Bullseye!" Nojiko shouted proudly, having fired off a third shot in the middle of Naruto's sentence.

She then quickly fired off two more shots, and Naruto was amazed to see all three targets had now been hit dead center.

"... everyone would be a sharpshooter," Naruto deadpanned, completing his earlier sentence.

Normally Naruto would happy for her success. But they say misery loves company. And with his current sour disposition he just wanted to bring her down a peg or two. And he might have just the way to do that.

"You seem to be quite a natural," he told her. "Why don't we move you on to trying moving targets? But I should warn you, it's quite a bit more difficult."

"I'm willing to give it a try," Nojiko replied, already reloading the revolver.

From the mischievous grins he saw on his clones' faces as they replaced the paper targets over the straw, he knew they were thinking the same thing he was. Completing their tasks they began to move the targets around as quickly and erratically as they could. Even hitting the targets at all would be difficult with their movements. But undaunted, Nojiko fired off three shots in rapid succession.

"You were right," she told him. "That was a lot harder. The third one was a little off."

Sure enough, two of the targets had received a solid bullseye, while the third shot had landed right on the line between the center of the target and the first ring.

"I'm going to my cabin to lie down for a while," Naruto declared, having had his fill of target practice. "You three help Nojiko out if she wants to continue practicing."

"I don't want to do this anymore," one of his clones complained.

"Yeah," the other two quickly agreed.

"Just shut up and do it!" he answered tersely, then stomped off down below deck.

First it's seeing his dead father and now snapping at himself? He was even more on edge and insane then he'd realized. He really did need to lie down for a while.

 **0o0o0**

Finally they had docked their ship next to the marine vessel that had been leading them. All five of them disembarked, finding the captain of the other ship already waiting for them on the docks.

"Welcome to G-4 Base," he told them.

G-4 was definitely the largest base Naruto had seen since leaving Marinford. It was a large complex of buildings, at least ten based on what he could see. There were also a dozen marine ships currently docked and a few more visible patrolling the area.

It had a much more rustic look than Marinford though. Rather than being nothing but buildings and pavements, he could see several open fields. And there were numerous trees and bushes growing, with many marines relaxing under the former.

Even a couple of picnics seemed to be going on. This hardly looked like the sort of discipline he would expect in the middle of a marine base. Didn't they have work they could be doing?

"I wish I could say it was a pleasure to be here," Naruto replied. "But given the circumstances, I'm afraid that isn't true."

The captain let out a deep laugh at his reply.

"I won't hold that against you," he told Naruto. "Now if all of you will follow me, we can get this over with. Maybe when afterward you'll have a chance to relax and enjoy the area."

"Yeah, we'll have plenty of time to relax in prison," Kiba muttered.

"That may very well be," the man answered letting out another laugh.

"I'm not actually a marine," Nojiko pointed out. "I'm I even allowed in the base?"

"Eh, don't worry about it," he replied casually. "No one's going to care."

The five of them were led into a large building in the center of the complex where they were directed to sit down in a lobby area. There were a number of tables set up around the room, and the four humans selected one and sat, with Akamaru lying on the floor nearby.

"Just wait here and the boss will be with you soon enough," they were told, before the man left them to themselves.

"Great, more waiting," Naruto complained.

And they were waiting for more than an hour with nothing more interesting then the occasional marine passing by. Naruto and Kiba's collective anxiety had put a pall over the table that had stifled any conversation. The waiting had become so unbearable that it was quite a relief when a marine who looked to be in his thirties approached them.

"Hey there folks," he greeted. "The name's Karl. I hear rumor that you're the kids who stole a ship to go off on a joyride."

Karl was a thickly muscled man with a shaved head. He appeared to be deliberately going for a tough guy look. But his efforts were somewhat hindered by his less than intimidating height that fell almost half a foot short of Naruto's own.

"It's not like that!" Kiba yelled, jumping angrily to his feet. "We were out ridding East Blue of its pirates."

"Don't lie to me kid," Karl told him. "You do know the marines keep records of who turned in any pirates with bounties on them, right? We just got the latest list today. I got myself a nice five million beli paycheck from a pirate I captured earlier this week."

"Wait, Marines can collect the bounties?" Naruto asked curiously. "Aren't we already getting paid to capture pirates?"

"A marine can collect half the bounty," Karl informed him. "But I wouldn't be too concerned about that. Even if you did catch any real pirates, it's doubtful any of them had bounties."

"Why don't we have a look at that list of yours and we'll find out?" Naruto suggested, knowing for a fact that some of the pirates he'd captured did indeed have bounties.

"Hey Mary," Karl called out to a receptionist sitting at a desk by the entrance. "Bring us the bounty list."

The young woman nodded and carried over a large binder to the table handing it to Karl. Karl grabbed a seat from a nearby table and invited himself to sit down with Naruto's group.

"So, whose name did you give when you turned in these pirates of yours?" Karl asked.

"That'd be mine, Naruto D. Namikaze," he answered.

"Let's see, Namikaze ... Namikaze ... ah, here it is," he declared, then read it silently before giving a small chuckle. "Real funny kid, what's your real name?"

"I told you, it's Naruto D. Namikaze," he answered smugly.

The opportunity to put this guy in his place seemed to have been just the tonic he'd needed to lift his mood.

"You mean to tell me a couple of punk ensigns fresh out of the academy managed to collect 48,000,000 berries in bounties this quickly?" he questioned them, disbelief clearly showing on his face.

"15,000,000 berries for Buggy the Clown, 17,000,000 berries for Don Krieg, 10,000,000 berries for Krieg's first officer Gin," Naruto recited. "I'm not sure where the other 6,000,000 berries came from to be honest, but it sounds about right."

"You were the one who captured Don Krieg?" Tenten asked him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised with how easily you handled Buggy the Clown."

"Would you like me to request the funds from Headquarters?" Mary asked, as she picked back up the list she'd been waiting for. "If I process the paperwork now, it should be cleared for you to pick up by the end of the day."

"Um, Sure," Naruto replied before he thought " _48,000,000 berries huh? That would make a nice little bonus."_

"Even if this is true, it doesn't change the fact that you ran off," Karl told him in an attempt to save face.

"It most certainly doesn't," a deep voice announced from right behind Naruto startling him.

It wasn't often he ran into someone who could sneak up on him like that.

"Rear Admiral Kakashi _**Hatake**_ , sir," Karl called out, jumping to his feet and giving a salute.

Naruto, Kiba, and Tenten quickly followed suit, standing at attention. The Rear admiral was a slender, silver haired man. Not much was visible of his face, with a mask covering his mouth and nose and an eyepatch over his left eye. It caused Naruto's imagination to run wild at what kind of injury would prompt him to cover so much.

"Please, be seated," Kakashi ordered them.

The five of them complied without question.

"Not you, Karl," Kakashi said to the bald man who had retaken his own seat. "This has nothing to do with you."

"Sorry, sir," Karl apologized, quickly getting to his feet and scurrying off.

"I apologize for making you wait so long," Kakashi told them. "But a pirate who had a grudge against me snuck into the base and took me hostage."

"Who was he?" Tenten asked, as shocked as Naruto that a pirate would do something so brazen.

"Who was who?" Kakashi asked.

"The pirate that took you captive," Tenten replied.

"Oh, I guess I'm not used to people believing my excuses," the rear admiral told them. "I'm afraid I hadn't thought that far ahead."

None of their group knew how to respond to that so they simply waited for Kakashi to continue. Instead he took a small orange book out of a coat pocket and began to read it silently as he stood there. After they'd been sitting patiently for about a minute Naruto finally worked up the nerve to interrupt.

"Excuse me sir," he said hesitantly. "I believe there was something you wanted to discuss with us."

"I wouldn't think you'd want to rush me," Kakashi answered, but did put his book away. "After all, these are some pretty serious charges being leveled against you. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I just want to say that Nojiko and Ensign Tenten here knew nothing about what we'd done," Naruto replied. "We didn't tell them a thing until your ship met us at the entrance to the Grand Line. And if you don't mind my asking, how did you know to have a ship waiting for us there?"

"I have an agent in Loguetown," he answered. "When I heard you were there, I figured you'd be heading for the Grand Line shortly. And since you don't have a marine ship, I knew that would be the only route you could take"

"You seem very well informed," Nojiko told him, finally breaking her silence.

"You look almost nervous," Kakashi replied. "Is there something you're worried I might know?"

"Nojiko hasn't done anything, sir," Naruto interrupted. "I take full responsibility for everything that happened."

"And do you have anything to add, Ensign Kiba?" he asked.

"I was fully aware of the actions I took," Kiba said firmly. "That said, it was all Naruto's idea."

Akamaru stood up and barked at Kiba accusingly.

"What? I told him I'd say that when he talked me into this," he told the dog defensively.

"Sir, if I might add something," Tenten interjected. "Their methods may have been wrong, but you can't ignore the good they've done. They left East Blue a much safer place than they found it."

Tenten had come to his defense? After verbally ripping him to shreds when she'd found out about this?

"She's right you know," Kakashi said. "The two of you deserve to be thrown out of the marines, but your results speak for themselves. I'd rather not lose two officers of your ability. So I'm going to just consider this matter settled."

"Really, sir?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"There is a price, however," Kakashi told them, "I'm not about to let you run around doing whatever you want anymore. From now on, you work for me, understood?"

"Yes, sir." Kiba and Naruto said nearly in unison.

"Good, because I have a mission already lined up for you," the Rear Admiral continued. "We've been receiving reports of citizens disappearing from Gunsmith Island. Based on information we've received, we believe those responsible operate from the nearby rabbit island. However, whenever we send marines to investigate, they find nothing."

"I'm not sure what you expect us to do," Naruto admitted. "Detective work isn't exactly our specialty."

"I was getting to that," Kakashi responded. "We don't have any eternal poses that go directly to Rabbit Island. But if you wait for an hour on Gunsmith Island, a regular log pose will lock on to it. We believe they have lookouts on Gunsmith Island that warn them whenever a marine ship stops by."

"But our ship doesn't look like a marine vessel," Tenten said knowingly.

"Exactly," Kakashi replied. "Obviously you'll also want to forgo your uniforms for the duration. You'll be in command of the mission, Naruto. I'd like you to stay on the crew as well Ensign Tashigi. Oh, and you're welcome to take the young lady there if she wants to go."

"I would like to stay on for now," Nojiko confirmed.

"Good," Kakashi responded. "I'll have an eternal pose sent to your ship. Ask Mary to find the quartermaster for you if you need any other supplies before you leave. Oh, and good luck lieutenant."

"Um, sir…did I heat correctly… lieutenant?" Naruto asked.

"You heard me correctly," Kakashi replied.

Wow, avoiding punishment was more than he'd expected, but a promotion too?

"Thank you, sir," Naruto said enthusiastically. "I'll do my best to deserve this honor."

"Um ... sir?" said Kiba as he got the Rear Admiral's Attention hopefully. "What about me?"

"Didn't you just say it was all Naruto's idea?" Kakashi asked in reply.

Kiba's silent fuming was the icing on the cake for a day that had already made a dramatic turn for the better.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto had been busy loading supplies and preparing their ship for departure. In addition to the eternal pose for Gunsmith Island, they were given a second that lead back to G-5. They'd also been given a den den mushi that would allow them to communicate with the base should the need arise.

But shortly after the sun had set, G-5 as well had slipped over the horizon. And with the ship sailing smoothly along, Naruto found himself with some free time on his hands. So he left a clone at the helm and approached Tenten, who was busy taking practice marksmanship shots.

"I'd like to thank you for standing up for me with the Rear Admiral," Naruto told her. "Especially after how vigorously you expressed your opinion earlier."

"Oh that?" she asked with a touch of chagrin. "I may have overreacted a bit, but only because I expect a lot from you."

"Still, I really do appreciate it," he said honestly. "It takes a lot of courage to stand up to a superior officer. Yet you did it for my sake when you hardly even know me."

"I did owe you several favors," she replied. "I'm just glad I had the chance to pay one back."

Naruto didn't feel like he was owed any favors by the the young woman. Stopping Buggy and winning that naval exercise? Both of those cases were done more for his own sake. Helping her had simply been an unintended benefit. She on the other hand had stuck her neck out for him. Now he felt like he was the one who owed her.

"You want a sparring partner?" he asked. "I'm not very good with guns, but I should be better practice then swinging at air."

"That would be great," Tenten says. "Who would be a better sparring partner than one whose devil fruit power gives him the ability to created clones?"

Just then a new person enters the ship. He was marine officer, narrow brown eyes and a typical expression suggesting he is either bored or irritated. He has shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail. He has lazy look of face and appered to be the same age as Naruto.

"Is this the ship of Lieutenant Naruto D. Namikaze?" he asked.

"This is the one?" said Naruto. "And who might you be?"

"My name is Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara," he introduce himself. "I been assigned by Rear Admiral Kakashi to your command."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Fight In Gunsmith Island**

 **G-4**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

"Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara?" Naruto repeated the name. "Rear Admiral Kakashi sends you?"

"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "To served as your second-in-command of your crew. He thinks someone of my specialty could help you out."

"And what is your specialty?" Tenten asked, curious.

"I'm a skilled navigator," Shikamaru told them. "But I'm also a combat tactician and strategist. The Rear Admiral thinks I would make a suitable member of your crew."

"Well it's good enough to have new blood on the crew," said Naruto. "Welcome aboard Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara."

"Thanks," said Shikamaru. "But I'm not the only new blood into your crew."

"Really?" Tenten asked. "Like who?"

Before Shikamaru was about to answer,

Nojiko, Kiba, and Akamaru return to the ship. They then see Shikamaru and Kiba asked "Who is this guy?"

"This is Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara," Naruto introduced to the rest of the crew. "Rear Admiral Kakashi has assigned him as my second-in-command."

"Second-in-command?" Kiba repeated, not looking happy. "Since when does he get to be Second-in-command?"

"I'm the man with the plane!" Shikamaru told him. "I'm capable of conducting various battle plans or fighting preparations effectively."

"Anybody can make a battle plan!" Kiba counters.

"Is that so?" Shikamaru alleged. "What's your IQ?"

"Huh?" Kiba repeated.

"I say what your IQ is?" Shikamaru repeated again.

"What the hell is an IQ?" Kiba says, looking confused.

"An IQ is a short term for intelligence quotient," Tenten explained it to him simply. "It is a total score derived from several standardized tests designed to assess human intelligence."

"For example," Shikamaru explained he details. "My IQ is 200, the highest in record."

"I know that." Kiba shot back, trying to act like he knows what an IQ is. "Do I look stupid to you?"

"Then tell us what your IQ number is?" Shikamaru persisted with the question.

"I don't have to tell you anything!" Kiba retort, trying to changed the subject.

"So you don't know," Shikamaru guesses. "Then I guess your IQ is low like 75."

"My IQ is not 75?" Kiba angrily snaps. "If you wanted to be Second-in-command in this crew fine—STOP TALKING ABOUT MY IQ!"

Everyone could help but snigger at Kiba's embarrassment.

"Ok everyone," Naruto begins to give out orders. "Let's get ready to sail off."

"Hold on!" Shikamaru stops him. "I'm not the only one assigned to your crew. Another marine and friend of mine is begin transfer to this ship as well."

"Really? Where is he?" Naruto asked, curious.

"He'd just arrived!" Shikamaru says, pointing to something.

Everyone turn to where Shikamaru was pointing at. Arriving on the ship was a young marine, with rotund build and markings on his cheeks in the form of swirls. He has spiky, brown hair that sticks downward to waist-length.

"Ensign Chōji Akimichi," he introduced himself with a salute.

"You're late Chōji." Shikamaru criticize his friend.

"Sorry Shikamaru." Chōji apologies to his friend and turning to Naruto, also apologies. "And sorry sir—I'll try my best not be late again."

"That's ok," said Naruto. "So you're now assigned to my crew, right?"

"Yeah, at Shikamaru's request," Chōji said. "He thinks every good ship needs a good cook."

"Cook?" Nojiko repeated.

"Yeah," Chōji said. "I'm a Marine cook."

"Is that so," Naruto says, looking uneasy. "Well…to be honest with you…I already had Nojiko, a civilian, for a ship cook."

Looking at Nojiko, Shikamaru mumbles "A Woman cook…how troublesome."

Nojiko looked at Shikamaru with ugly look and says "You got something against women?"

"Yeah...they're overburden in life." Shikamaru remarked.

"Overburden?" Tenten reacted, not looking happy.

"Don't take it personal," Chōji said to both Tenten and Nojiko. "Shikamaru finds women to be aggressive, demanding, and sometimes even scary."

Turning to Naruto, Chōji says "Lieutenant I don't mind working with Nojiko even if you hired her as your ship cook. To me two cooks are better than one on a ship."

"I appreciate that Chōji," said Naruto.

"At least he shows some respect for women." Nojiko remarked a comment of measurement between Chōji and Shikamaru."

"Point taken!" Tenten agreed.

 **0o0o0**

It didn't take that long for the ship to reach Gunsmith Island. The voyage to the island took about a half a day. Arriving, all they had to do was waited for 12 hours until their log pose confirmed their destination Rabbit Island.

For Kiba, he took the chance is earn some extra sleep. He likes relax a while before a mission. It's a way to saved energy before going into action.

However, just as he was enjoying a good sleep, Naruto and the others enters his room.

"You could have let me sleep in a little longer," Kiba complained. "We're leaving in less than an hour."

Naruto had been bad enough when he was just a self-proclaimed captain. Now that he legitimately outranked him, he was going so far as to drag him out of bed far too early in the morning for some pointless patrol.

"We're only doing our duty as marines," Tenten countered. "That's more important than a little sleep."

Tenten being so gung ho about it did nothing to help his already poor mood. Kiba couldn't decide if he was more annoyed by workaholics or morning people at the moment. But seeing as his two companions each fell into both categories, he supposed it didn't really matter which came out on top.

"What is so important to wake me up?" Kiba complains.

"I saw the Straw Hat Pirates," Naruto whispered to Kiba. "Their ship just pulls into the harbor a few minutes ago."

"Are you sure?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah," said Naruto. "But I don't think they've spotted us yet. Which mean we have the advantaged in surprising them."

"We don't have time for them," Shikamaru counters. "Have you forgotten—we're on a mission?"

"That can wait," said Naruto. "For the Straw Hats kidnapped Nojiko's sister."

"Nojiko's sister?" Chōji repeated before he says "Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"What about our deadline?" Shikamaru pointed out. "We'll lose our log pose to Rabbit Island?"

"Come one Shikamaru," Chōji said, trying to convince his friend. "This is what we do as Marines—help people. And besides…the Straw Hat has Nojiko's sister."

Shikamaru was quiet but show a sign of submission.

"So what are we going to do?" Tenten asked.

"It's simple," Naruto begins to explain. "We're going to saved Nojiko's sister and arrested the Straw Hat Pirates. Shikamaru and Chōji…I wanted the two of you to stay behind and looks after Nojiko. But don't tell her anything until we get her sister back safely."

"Yes Lieutenant." Chōji said.

Naruto, Kiba, and Tenten manage to reach land and sneaks their way into town. It took while due of how large Gunsmith Island is, but they finally manage to find the Straw Hat Pirates.

Tenten gave up her spot to let Kiba have his own look. Sure enough, there they were only forty feet away or so. He saw Luffy, that Usopp kid, and the blond chef. It was only the throng of people on the pier that had prevented them from spotting the group earlier. He didn't see any sign of Zoro or his two bounty hunter friends, but the group appeared to be standing there chatting with two young women.

"You think one of those girls is Nami?" Kiba asked while moving away from the corner to let Naruto look.

"Maybe it's that blue haired girl?" Tenten suggested. "The hair color might run in the family."

"No, I think it's the other one," Naruto replied. "I can't see it clearly from here, but I got a glimpse of a tattoo on her arm that looked similar to Nojiko's."

"So what's the plan?" Kiba asked.

He didn't have much experience dealing with a hostage situation so he wasn't sure what the best way to proceed would be.

"I'm going to go in alone and distract them," Naruto answered. "Kiba, while their attention is on me, I want you to sneak up behind them and get Nami out of there."

"Understood," Kiba replied.

"And once she's safely away, we capture the rest of them," Naruto finished resolutely.

Giving them each a final look, he must have been satisfied with what he'd seen from them. Nodding, he ran out of the alley and toward the pirates. Running right past their group, he turned around and confronted Luffy, who immediately recognized him.

"Ah, Naruto," Luffy said cheerfully, "I've been thinking about it and I'm kind of jealous of your power. You know how when there's beef over here, and chicken over there, and you can't decide which one to eat first? You could just make a copy and eat both at the same time."

"Actually—my clones don't eat or drink anything." Naruto corrects him.

"Ah," Luffy answered knowingly. "They're mysterious copies."

That boy was just as strange as Kiba remembered. But their group looked sufficiently distracted so Kiba began to make his way through the crowd toward where Nami was standing.

"You never told me you were a pirate," Naruto replied, accusation clear in his voice.

"I didn't?" Luffy asked. "Well I'm telling you now. I'm going to be the Pirate King."

"Pirates?" a passerby asked worriedly. "They're pirates?"

The word quickly spread as panicked civilians cleared out of the area as fast as they could. The press of people going the other direction was making it difficult for Kiba to move forward. And once they were gone his cover would be too. He'd have to move quickly when that happened or he'd be spotted the first time one of them turned around.

"You won't be if I have anything to say about it," Naruto insisted. "I'm taking you down right here."

"Is that so?" Luffy responded. "Well you got to defeat me first…and I'm not going to lose to you."

Kiba had finally reached the girl he assumed was Nami and grabbed her from behind, putting a hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming.

"I'm here to help you," he whispered in her ear to calm her down.

But she was anything but calm. Grabbing the arm he had over her mouth, she twisted and threw Kiba over her shoulder so that he landed flat on his back.

"What are you doing?" he yelled accusingly propping himself up into a sitting position. "I'm trying to rescue you."

"The only person I need rescuing from is you!" she yelled back.

Had he gone after the wrong girl? Maybe it was the blue haired one after all. But said girl was now coming at him with some sort of spinning weapon tied to ring on her finger. She didn't look any more eager to be rescued than her orange haired companion.

He heard Akamaru bark a warning at him, and instinctively jumped to the side, avoiding a small explosion where he'd just been sitting. He turned to see Usopp had just fired something at him. But the odd thing was it had come from a slingshot. What kind of a pirate used a slingshot?

Akamaru had moved past Kiba and was now approaching the long nosed boy, growling as he did.

"Nice doggy ... Nice doggy," Usopp said nervously. "I'm not going to hurt you. Look I'm putting the weapon down.

Kiba saw Akamaru relax a bit as the boy slowly lowered his slingshot to the ground. But that had been just what Usopp had been waiting for as in a split second he loaded and fired off a shot at the dog.

"Tamago Boshi," he cried out as the projectile flew toward Akamaru, hitting him directly in the face.

The dog immediately let out a yelp of distress and began to run around frantically pawing at his nose.

"What did you do to Akamaru?" Kiba yelled angrily at the boy.

Not even waiting for an answer he charged Usopp, intent on avenging his partner. But Akamaru cut him off looking him directly in the eye. Kiba had been with Akamaru for so long, he could almost always figure out what his partner was trying to tell him. And this time there was no doubt at all. His eyes clearly said that this one was his.

Nodding to Akamaru he looked around for a new target. Naruto looked to have claimed Luffy already, so he should probably help out Tenten. The other ensign had charged in and was surrounded by all three of the remaining pirates. And that was probably more than she could handle.

Locking onto the blue haired girl, he charged her, quickly ducking under a swipe she made with that weapon of hers. Grabbing her weapon arm, he was able to halt the spinning. He was about to finish her when a kick from Sanji on his arm forced him to release the girl.

"I won't let you harm so much as a hair on Vivi's head," he promised.

It looked like he would have to deal with this jerk first. But that was proving to be more easily said than done. The man was good. More than just good, he grudgingly admitted. He might have his hands full dealing with just him, and having to dodge that crazy Vivi chick's attacks at the same time wasn't going well for him.

He hadn't been able to get in one attack that hadn't been dodged or parried by Sanji, yet he'd taken a couple of glancing blows himself. And even glancing blows from the man's kicks had hurt, which spoke highly of the power behind them.

Tenten was able evade attack from the girl called Nami and pulls out her guns, aiming at her. However Sanji, in a quick of flash, kick away the guns before they were fired at the orange haired girl.

"Thanks, Sanji," she told her savior. "Now pay her back for trying to kill me."

"I'm sorry," the chef replied, "but I could never hit a lady."

"Kyah! You're so frustrating," she yelled at him, turning to run to where her staff had landed after being knocked away.

Without warning, Tenten kick Sanji between the legs, a low blow that causes him to cry out in pain.

"Next time leave your chivalry at home!" Tenten begun criticize Sanji.

Nami and Vivi made a run for it. Sanji attempts to follow after them. However, with his back turn it was that moment Kiba made his strike.

In a flash, Kiba charged forward and uses his body as a powerful force to slam against the man, sending him flying across several feet. Kiba hope it was enough take him out of the fight.

Nami and Vivi finally reach their ship. However, Tenten, despite begin unarmed, managed to tackle her to the ground. Vivi was about to help her when Kiba jumps in front of her, to prevent her in tag-teaming on Tenten. In panic, Vivi turns to the ship and shouted "Mr. Bushido! Wake up! We need help!"

"No where to run now!" Kiba says. "I suggested you surrender!"

Not giving up, Vivi pulled a second one of those weapons from somewhere and was now wielding one with each hand. Kiba would have to approach this carefully. Dodging several of her assaults he finally saw an opening.

One attack went wide and before she could recover, he dashed into her guard, ducking under the followup swing from her other hand. With nothing left to stop him, he planted his fist into her gut, knocking Vivi flat on her rear, gasping from the blow.

Do you surrender or should I continue?" Kiba asked her smugly. "I held back, but I can hit a lot harder than that."

"Interesting," she answered when she was able to speak again. "But how are you at taking blows?"

That was an odd response. Was it supposed to be some kind of a threat? Suddenly he found himself flying through the air, only then registering a throbbing pain in the side of his head. In his dazed state he attempted a controlled landing, but wasn't very successful as he plowed through a street stall of some type.

After taking a few moments to collect himself, he stood up to see Sanji standing there, only just lowering his foot from the kick that had been the cause of Kiba's involuntary flight.

"I'll never forgive any man that hits a woman," the chef declared angrily. "Now prepare yourself, because this fight is about to get serious."

 **0o0o0**

Naruto watched Kiba slam into the ground after his failed rescue attempt. He never should have trusted Kiba with that task. Nami probably thought he was some kind of pervert grabbing her like that. Well, he'd have to leave that situation to his crew. He still had Luffy to deal with. So he took a stance and prepared to fight.

"You don't have a weapon?" Luffy asked. "You can't hurt me with your fists, you know."

"Funny," Naruto replied, "I was about to say the same thing to you."

This could be a good chance to use his Tekkai to demoralize his opponent. The boy was used to being invulnerable to blunt attacks. Let's see how he liked a taste of his own medicine.

"Of course I can," Luffy insisted. "I'm the rubber man. Your power is to make mysterious copies. Did you forget what your power was or something?"

"Then go ahead and try," Naruto challenged.

 **"Gomu Gomu no Pistol!"** Luffy shouted as he sent out his first attack.

 **"Tekkai!"** Naruto shouted in response.

In an instant, Luffy's attack stuck Naruto. And from the looks of it…Naruto has no problem in absorbing that attack.

"Is that all you got?" Naruto mocked Luffy.

Eh?" Luffy asked. "Why didn't that work? I'm not the one who forgot my power is? No, my arms just stretched, so I must be a rubber man. Eh, thinking about this is too confusing; I'm just going to hit you harder."

Not for the first time, Naruto had to wonder if this kid was actually this stupid, or just messing with his mind.

 **"Gomu Gomu no Rifle!"** he yelled as he sent out a more powerful attack.

Naruto grunted when it hit but managed to avoid giving off any other sign of how hard the blow had been. That punch was like being hit by one of Garp's cannonballs. No, it might even be stronger, since he had little doubt he'd improved the strength of his Tekkai since then. But he could still handle it, and soon Luffy would realize how hopeless it was.

 **"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"** Luffy cried out, sending a rapid stream of punches after Naruto.

But Naruto only grinned. He could hit him with as many of those as he wanted. Neither was as strong as that rifle of his, so he could easily handle them. And Luffy seemed to be getting very frustrated by the situation.

 **"Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!"** the pirate captain screamed at the top of his lungs as he pulled back for a giant double handed punch.

Naruto stood there, waiting to absorb the attack, extremely confident of his Tekkai. Yet the force of Luffy's attack smashes through his Tekkai, sending him back several feet, through he was able to keep standing, while recovering from the attack.

"Yeah!" Luffy mocked back. "That's all I got!"

Naruto was shocked and embarrassed that Luffy broke through his Tekkai. The kid was stronger than he imagined which means this fight really going to be tough. However, Naruto was confident he'll win in the end.

His fists may not hurt his opponent but let's see how much fight he had in him after Naruto had tied that rubber body of his into a knot.

"Ah, no fair, Usopp," Luffy called out to his crew member. "I want to play with the doggy too!"

"What part of this looks like playing to you?" Usopp yelled back angrily from within Akamaru's large jaws.

Luffy may let himself get distracted, but that didn't mean Naruto had to wait for his opponent. He summoned twenty clones around himself. Although he was confused for a second as it seemed somehow more strenuous than usual. But that was probably just his imagination.

His Tekkai might not have been strong enough to withstand Luffy's strongest attack, but it was time to show him how lacking he was in speed. Naruto and his twenty clones all rushed toward Luffy. But the pirate captain wasn't about to go down without a fight.

He threw punch after punch at the approaching targets, but Naruto's Soru enhanced speed proved too great for his opponent. Pistols, rifles, even that gatling move of his had failed to land a single hit. And to be honest, Naruto was deliberately drawing this out as a small revenge for their earlier challenge.

"Hold still and let me hit you!" Luffy ordered.

Naruto was pleased to see the frustration was getting to him. But he'd had enough playing around, now he needed to finish this. Signaling all of his clones to converge on Luffy from sides…victory was as good as his.

 **"Gomu Gomu no Hanabi!"** Luffy shouted.

His opponent began spinning sending a flurry of punches and kicks at a faster rate than anything he'd done before. But he was still being naive. It was a good attack but it just wasn't fast enough to be a threat to him, as he proved by dodging every blow.

However, a flood of memories brought to his attention the unexpected detail that three of his four clones had been destroyed. But how had that happened? He could believe one of them had slipped up and made a mistake, but there was no way that attack could have taken out all twenty clones.

After he'd had a moment to process the new memories, he realized exactly how it had happened. Somehow his clones weren't using Soru as he is. The Rokushiki required the user to be a master of their own body. And something about the sensations of being a clone just felt a little off.

Not surprising for a body that lacked hunger or thirst, a body that didn't even feel pain. And those unfamiliar sensations had prevented him from fully utilizing Soru. He wished he'd discovered this fact sooner, but Luffy had been the first opponent to push his clones to move so quickly.

"Now that all your clones are gone," Luffy said proudly. "You're next!

In response Naruto simply summoned replacements for the twenty clones that had been destroyed.

"That's not fair!" Luffy complained in protest. "Usopp, tell him that's not fair."

But his long nosed subordinate was busy lying unmoving on the ground beneath Akamaru, who was sniffing the fallen body.

"Stop ignoring me and tell him that's not fair," Luffy ordered. "I already beat up all of his copies! That's means they're out, right?"

"Stop yelling at me you idiot," Usopp lifted his head to shout back. "I'm trying to play dead here."

He quickly realized his mistake as the now very angry dog above him began to growl angrily.

"I mean, your noise briefly woke me from unconsciousness but now everything is going black again," he claimed, laying his head back down and going still.

But Akamaru wasn't about to fall for the same trick twice. He was glad at least one of them was doing well. But the revelation about his clones' limited speed made this much harder. If he couldn't reliably count on his clones to avoid taking hits, it could get down to grappling one versus one against Luffy.

That is if he were to stick to his original plan of tying the boy up. It could still work, once he had a hold of an arm or a leg, it should greatly reduce the speed of his attacks. But he couldn't keep up Tekkai while moving.

And close range combat against an opponent who could do so many odd things with his body, was immune to physical blows, and packed a horribly strong wallop was a large risk. If only he'd swallowed his pride and brought a knife or something. He could have diced Luffy to pieces with ease by now.

Although, there might be another way to get the same sort of effect. A properly performed Shigan could tear right through a body. It might be enough to wound even Luffy. He couldn't reliably do a Shigan yet, but it was worth a try.

"Stop complaining," he taunted Luffy, trying to provoke an attack. "You still haven't even managed to hit the real me."

"Which one is the real you?" he replied in confusion.

"I am you moron," Naruto yelled back.

Naruto had been trying to provoke Luffy and instead he was the one losing his cool. The boy was just so frustrating.

"Well then, see if you can dodge this," Luffy challenged. **"Gomu Gomu no Gatling."**

Luffy was now focused entirely on the real Naruto, which suited him just fine. As he dodged the attacks he rapidly fired off Shigans from both hands, hitting the extending arms repeatedly as he danced around them.

"Quit doing that," Luffy complained. "It stings."

It looked like the move might have potential if he ever fully mastered it. But causing a stinging sensation against his opponent hardly seemed like a fair tradeoff as Naruto examined his two badly sprained pointer fingers.

He supposed that's what he deserved for using the technique in combat when he hadn't even fully learned it. But it looked like it would have to be his original plan, risky or not. In a way Naruto was looking forward to the risk. This was already the most exhilarating experience of his life.

 **0o0o0**

Although Naruto had ordered him and Chōji to remain behind to look after Nojiko at the ship, Shikamaru has a bad feeling that things not going to end the way as plan. Leaving the ship and heading into town, his fears proved right.

It seems the ambush on the Straw Hat Pirates is not going the way as Naruto had wanted. Shikamaru had a feeling Naruto would make a mistake underestimating the pirates. The Rear Admiral was a little too hasty in promoting a guy that went AWOL and giving him a special assignment he was suppose to be working on.

Shikamaru decided to step in and help his fellow marines. While Naruto and Tenten were able to handle their business with their foes, it looks like Kiba needs some help. Whoever Kiba's opponent is, he was very fast and not to mention how powerful those kicks he inflicted.

"Are you all right Vivi dear?" Kiba's opponent asked with concern tone.

"I'm fine Sanji," she replied, struggling to recover. "Thank you…I just to recover for a moment. What happened to guy you was fighting?"

"Don't worry," Sanji replied. "I took care of that bastard personally."

"That just terrific," Shikamaru remarked out loud to gains their attention. "A knight of shinning armor defending the honor of a lady…that's even more troublesome than women."

It was when Shikamaru noticed the light-blue haired girl. There was something familiar about her…and her name.

Seeing Shikamaru, Sanji demanded "Who are you?"

"I'm Lieutenant Shikamaru Nara of the marines!" Shikamaru introduced. "And I happened to be crewmate of the guy you beat up…not to mention I'm going arrested you two for begin pirates."

"I like to see you try it pal!" Sanji counters, getting ready to attack Shikamaru. "And don't worried—you'll get the same treatment as your friend that strikes lady."

Like lighting itself, Sanji charged at Shikamaru, ready to kick him in the hand. But before his foot strike Shikamaru—he instantly stops.

"What the…I can't move!" Sanji said out loud with a surprise tone in his voice. "Why can't I move?"

"Because you fallen victim to mine Shadow Imitation Technique!" Shikamaru lectures with a tricky smile. "All I had to do is link my shadow to yours and your whole body is under my control."

Looking down, Sanji noticed Shikamaru's words were correct as Shikamaru's shadow was linked to Sanji's.

"Devil fruit power?" Sanji guesses.

"Correct." Shikamaru said.

"Hey, what's going on?" a new voice spoken out loud.

Shikamaru turns his head, to see a newcomer leaving the ship—a green-haired man, wearing three swords on his hip. This guy must be the one called Zoro, the Pirate Hunter. Shikamaru heard rumors from the East Blue Sea about man who'd practices three sword style and was hunting pirates. He didn't know why a bounty hunter chooses to become a pirate, but he was going to be a problem.

Then Shikamaru had an idea.

In an instant, Sanji launch himself at Zoro, in attempt to kick. Yet Zoro block his kick with one of his swords.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing you idiot?" Zoro angrily shouted. "Are you out of your mind?"

"It's not me!" Sanji replied. "It's him! He's using—"

Sanji's words were cut off when he once again attacked Zoro. Through Sanji was a powerful fighter, Zoro happened to equally match his opponent as well. Shikamaru knew this fight going to take a while if—

"Shikamaru?"

Hearing his name, Shikamaru turns his head. Speaking his name was the girl Vivi who manages to make a full recovery. Looking at her, Shikamaru's face reacted in shock and says "Vivi—is that you?"

"Yes Shikamaru, it's me!" Vivi reply, also looking shocked.

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru asked her. "And what are you doing with these pirates?"

"Stop!" Nojiko yelled out. "Everyone stop fighting! Please stop!"

Everyone turn to see Nojiko running toward them, arriving in the scene. Following her was Chōji. What was Nojiko doing here?

Shikamaru briefly surveyed the area to see how the rest of his crew had been doing. It looked like one of the pirates; a long-nosed kid was completely unconscious this time. Kiba didn't seem to have fared as well, only now pulling himself up from the remains of a street stand.

Naruto and Luffy are still fighting each other. Tenten appeared uninjured and seemed to have been locked in combat with the ornage-haired girl he'd assumed to be Nami, near where Nojiko had just appeared. Why would they have still been fighting? Was she not Nami? But now that Nojiko was here he should be able to get some answers, and he hurried over himself to make certain he didn't miss any.

"Nojiko?" the orange haired girl asked in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Nami," Nojiko answered, confirming the girl she was now hugging was her sister. "I'm glad I made it in time."

Something wasn't right here. Nojiko looked awfully calm for a girl who was surrounded by the pirates who had kidnapped her sister. And piecing the clues he had together, Shikamaru was pretty sure he knew just what it was that was off.

"Naruto says your sister was kidnapped, was she?" Shikamaru asked accusingly.

Nojiko's guilt stricken face was all the answer he needed.

"Kidnapped?" Nami asked. "Who are these people and what have you been telling them?"

"I believe I can answer that," Naruto replied. "She's been giving us false information, trying to keep us bringing you to justice."

"Is this true?" Tenten angrily questioned Nojiko.

Nojiko was quiet for a moment, but with guilty looks, she admits "Yes…it's true."

"Why would you help the pirates that attacked your village," Kiba asked, having wandered over himself.

"It's not like that," Nojiko insisted, finally finding her voice. "They saved us from Arlong's pirates. They're heroes in our village."

"Even if that's true," Naruto countered, "they still attacked Captain Nezumi and his men."

"Yeah, we attacked him," Nami yelled back unapologetically. "But he was in it with Arlong—taking bribes to look the other way. Then, after _we_ took out Arlong and his crew, he showed up trying to rob the village one last time—only to get his ass kick. What were we supposed to do, let him?"

"That's a lie," Tenten snapped ay her, "No marine captain would behave in such a fashion."

"Actually," Naruto corrected her, "I've actually met the man, and I just might believe him capable of something like that."

"You're not just going to take their word for it and let them go are you?" Tenten questioned him.

"Of course not," Naruto replied, then turned to address Nami. "If you've truly done nothing wrong, then turn yourselves in. We'll see that you get a fair trial."

"Excuse me," Vivi interrupted. "There's something else you should know before you try to arrest them.

"Vivi!" Chōji replies with a shocked look on his face. "Is that you?"

"Yes Chōji, it's me." She replied. "It's…it's been a while."

"You guys know her?" Kiba asked both Chōji and Shikamaru.

"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "She's Nefertari Vivi, the royal princess of Arabasta."

"You're joking right?" Kiba snorted. "You don't expect us to believe a princess is hanging out with a bunch of pirates."

"Are you calling Vivi a liar?" Sanji asked, getting right up in Kiba's face.

"She really is the princess of Arabasta ," said Shikamaru. "Me and Chōji can vouch for her!"

"Are you sure?" Tenten asked, to make sure.

"We're sure," said Chōji. "We grew up together as kids."

Facing his friend, Shikamaru asked "Vivi…what are you doing here, sailing with pirates? The last we heard you hadn't been seen in public for many months since the growing tensions in Arabasta."

"Yeah," Chōji agreed. "And where's Igaram? We heard he disappeared the same time you had?"

Vivi looked uncomfortable and sadly says "Igaram… Igaram somewhere else Chōji…that's all."

Unlike his friend, Shikamaru saw that it was a lied. He has stinking feeling that Igaram was dead. Yet he kept it to himself, out of feeling for Chōji, who looked up to Igaram.

"I'm with the Straw Hat crew Shikamaru because I need to get back safely to Arabasta." Vivi explained.

"Get back safely?" Naruto asked. "Are you in some kind of trouble?"

"A criminal organization by the name of Baroque Works is trying to incite a rebellion in my country," she informed him. "I infiltrated the organization and discovered the identity of its leader, but was found out in the process. It's imperative I get back to my father with this information."

"WHAT?" Chōji cried in shock. "Are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure Chōji," said Vivi. "I need get back to Arabasta to warned them."

"If you're telling the truth you won't mind coming with us," Naruto told her. "I'm sure the marines will be more than happy to ensure you arrive home safely."

"Hey, I've got a lot of money riding on this job," Nami complained. "I'm not going to let you steal my client that easily."

"There's no time," Vivi added. "Every second now Arabasta is closely heading to destruction unless I get back on time. Not to mention every delay just gives them more time to send assassins after me. And they could make their final move in Arabasta at any time."

Shikamaru saw that Naurto was in a difficult spot here. As commanding officer, he's the one to make a decision. However she was not making this easy for him. Thinking for a moment, Shikamaru finally made a decision.

"Let them go!" Shikamaru requested.

"Huh?" Naruto respond with a confused look.

"Just let them go," Shikamaru repeated again. "If Vivi trusted these pirates to take her home then I take her word for it. And beside…Arabasta is also my homeland."

"Yeah I agreed with Shikamaru," Kiba side with Shikamaru. "It doesn't seem to me they've done anything wrong. They helped us save the Baratie, saved Cocoyashi Village, and now they're helping a princess save her kingdom? Sounds like they're deserve a medal more than prison."

"That's absurd," Tenten protested. "Whatever they've done they're still pirates. And even what she says is true it doesn't change the fact that we have a duty to arrest them. We'll take Vivi to Arabasta ourselves if we have to."

"Are you forgetting that we have our own mission?" Kiba argued back. "Considering our history, I'm not about to risk disobeying orders and going off on our own."

"We can contact the Rear Admiral," Tenten countered. "I'm sure he'll understand the importance of the situation and let us go."

"And what's about the kidnappers?" Kiba asked. "We just let them go about their merry way? If allow the Straw Hat Pirates to handle Vivi we can solve both problems at once."

"That's enough," Naruto ordered. "You've both made your points."

"So what's your decision then?" Kiba asked.

That was a good question. What was his decision? Seeing him deliberating, Vivi decided to make one last plea.

"I'm begging you," she pleaded, getting down on her knees. "Millions of lives are at stake."

"Please just let them go," Nojiko added the kneeling next Vivi. "I swear to you they're good people."

It seems two emotional young women were enough to break Naruto down, and Shikamaru knew he just couldn't give the order to start fighting again.

"Don't think I'll forget you're pirates," he told Nami resolutely. "If I run into you again after you've delivered Vivi I won't hesitate to capture you. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

"You're welcome to try," Sanji challenged. "I'll be looking forward to teaching this barbarian some manners."

Kiba snarled back but left it at that. And Tenten didn't look very pleased with his decision, but he took it as a good sign that she wasn't openly protesting.

"Are you going to be all right, sailing with them Vivi?" Shikamaru asked his friend.

"I'll be fine Shikamaru thank you." Vivi said. "Although it would be nice if you and Chōji would come along."

"Believed me I wish I could," Shikamaru said. "But we're in the middle of assignment. Maybe after this job is over I'll head back to G-4 Base and tell them what you told me."

"Yeah," Chōji agreed. "And if we're lucky…we could be on our way to Arabasta to help you out."

"That will be nice." Vivi said.

"Now that I've been found out, I guess this is goodbye," she said. "I just want you to know that I really do feel bad about deceiving you. Oh, and I enjoyed our time together."

"You can come with us, Nojiko," Nami offered. "Right Luffy?"

"I don't really understand what's going on," he answered, "but okay, she can join our crew."

"Welcome aboard, Nojiko-chan," Sanji said enthusiastically. "I'll cook a special welcoming feast in your honor."

"You don't have to leave if you don't want to," Naruto told her.

"You serious?" Shikamaru asked, make sure he heard correctly.

"With all due respect, sir, I have to protest," Tenten responded. "She's been lying to us and deliberately attempting to sabotage our efforts."

"Are you suggesting we give her the choice of joining pirates or being abandoned on an island far from her home?" Naruto asked. "Because I'd rather not have to think I all but forced someone into piracy."

"I'm sorry," Tenten replied. "I guess you're right. I have no further objections at the moment."

"Do you really mean that?" Nojiko asked. "You're not just going to dump me somewhere as soon as they leave?"

"You can stay as long as you'd like," Naruto assured her. "I promise."

"Our offer is still open too," Nami pointed out hopefully.

"Yeah, don't trust him," Sanji advised desperately. "He has the look of a liar."

"Sorry Nami," Nojiko told her sister, "but I think it's better if we have our own adventures. We'll get to see twice as many things that way and we can tell each other all about them. Besides, I'm fine with having a dog for a crew member, but I don't think I like the idea of having a captain with the intellect of IQ lower than 75."

"She's calling you stupid," Luffy said to Naruto with a laugh.

"It was you she was calling stupid," Nami pointed out, getting a noticeable tick in her eye.

"Really? Then I take back what I said," Luffy replied petulantly. "She can't join my crew after all."

"She wasn't going to join anyway!" Nami yelled at him. "What part of this conversation were you listening to?"

"He's dumber than Kiba?" Shikamaru remaked.

"Watch it!" Kiba warned him.

Sighing, Nami turned back to her sister.

"Why do I suddenly get the feeling I ended up with the raw end of this deal?" she asked.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," Nojiko told her, then looking at her sister she embraced her in a hug. "Good luck out there."

"You too," Nami replied, returning the hug warmly.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Nojiko, stated.

Releasing the hug, she marched over to Zoro and without warning sent a fist into his gut.

"Do you want something?" Zoro asked nonchalantly, not at all phased by the surprise attack.

Apparently, this was not the right answer as Nojiko followed up with a knee to his groin, a move that made Shikamaru wince sympathetically. This attack had a much greater effect, as the swordsman fell the ground in pain.

"That's for Loguetown," Nojiko told him angrily.

"What did you do to my sister, you monster?" Nami shouted, slamming her staff down over the head of the green haired young man.

"What's wrong with you two?" Zoro managed to gasp out. "I never even saw her in Loguetown. I just bought some swords and then ran around trying to find Luffy. That was it."

Shikamaru didn't know what that was about. But since they had nothing else to do here, it was time they got back to their own mission.

"I believe our hour is almost up," Shikamaru declared. "It's time we head back to our ship."

The crew turned to follow, Akamaru trotting after them carrying Usopp in his mouth.

"You'll have to leave him behind," Naruto told his canine subordinate.

Akamaru whined, but followed orders, dropping the unconscious boy to the ground and following after them.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Dark Revelations**

 **Water around Gunsmith Island**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

Naruto watched as Gunsmith Island retreated behind them. His mind was still largely occupied of the fight between him and Luffy. Despite everything he learned, he was still unable to defeat the rubber kid. He was too strong and almost a better fighter than he was. Yet Naruto discovered that his problem of his fight was the unsatisfactory performance of his clones.

"This is your own fault Naruto," his imaginary dad says to him the moment he appeared. "All those accomplishments and victories you attain in the East Blue Sea made you so arrogant you underestimated Luffy."

"Maybe a little," Naruto admits his error. "But I already plan on fixing this problem before the next time I meet up with Luffy again."

"How?" Minato challenged him on that subject.

"I realize that my clones can accelerate training periods," Naruto explained. "For example, by training alongside one shadow clone for one hour, I will have two hours' worth of training experience once the shadow clone disperses."

"With multiple clones training in Rokushiki techniques, I'm able to master Rokushiki in a much quicker pace within a few weeks," Naruto continue. "Not to mention my clones will get stronger and become adept fighters in their own right."

"And you're confident that you'll take down Luffy?" Minato alleged. "You forgotten this is the Grand Line Naruto…here in the seas everyone get stronger to survived. Luffy will be much stronger than next time you run into him again."

Naruto wondered if he going insane…either by seeing and talking to his imaginary dad or begin tortured by his lectures. He was about to snapped at him…but instead he used all his willpower to ignore his father and started working on getting stronger.

In an instant, Naruto summons ten clones around him. Five he set to just practicing Soru, getting a feel for it. Four he set up to practice Tekkai. The final one he left to meditating. As for himself, despite his protesting fingers, Naruto set to work practicing Shigan. At least the movements behind it, he wasn't going to try it on anything solid until his fingers were recovered.

He spends two hours performing this before he has the eight clones disappeared before absorbing the final clone. With 18 hours of knowledge in his head, Naruto felt his Rokushiki skills empowered greatly. He was a bit pleases with the progress was going. Yet he knew ten clones is not going to be enough to help him improved his Rokushiki skills.

It was sometimes later Nojiko and Chōji called out lunch time, gaining everyone attention. The two work pretty well together as cooks of the ship. He was glad that both them onboard. He was also glad that Nojiko's skill at cooking was one area she hadn't deceived them on when she gave him a BBQ chicken ramen bowl.

"Did you make this by yourself?" Tenten asked Chōji when he handed her plate of food.

"No, Nojiko and I made it together, why?" Chōji asked.

Tenten gave Nojiko a suspicious look before she says "I think I'd rather just grab something myself."

"You got something against Chōji's cooking?" Shikamaru questioned her.

"No…just someone else cooking…that's all," Tenten coldly says as she walked out of the ship's small dining area.

It seemed Tenten wasn't yet ready to let this whole thing go.

Turning to Naruto, Shikamaru says "You need to talk to her Naurto. The last thing we need is shipmates distrusting each other."

"I'll talk to her later Shikamaru," said Naruto. "Yet…I'm surprise you and Chōji not angry at Nojiko for her deception."

"I understand why Nojiko did it," said Shikamaru. "Big sister watching over little sister…it's the same of me watching over Chōji."

"So you're ok of her serving as cook on this ship?" Naruto questioned.

"I'm ok with that," Shikamaru said. "So does Chōji. I'm not sure about Kiba and his dog, Akamaru."

Speaking of Kiba, he suddenly appeared before the two and says "Hey Naruto…can I talked to you for a moment?"

"Sure Kiba…I'll speaks with you later Shikamaru."

You'd too." Shikamaru replied before he leaves.

"What were you two talking about?" Kiba asked once Shikamaru left.

"He was little concern about Tenten," Naruto told him. "He worried that she still bear grudge."

"Will I'm not holding a grudge against her," Kiba proclaimed. "And Akamaru will never hold anything against her."

"I'm glad to hear that," said Naruto. "But that's not the only thing you wanted talk to me about, is it?"

"Yeah…I just want a couple of your clones to train with this afternoon," Kiba requested.

"I'm kind of busy with my own training," Naruto replied. He was making slow enough progress as it was, so he wasn't eager to lend them out at the moment.

"You're not the only one who didn't like how that fight went," Kiba argued. "I owe that jerk for beating he gave me. You don't expect me to practice without anyone to spar with, do you?"

"And getting yourself beat up is better practice?" Naruto teased his friend. "Are you trying to learn Tekkai or something?"

"You just better make sure you keep the clones coming," Kiba shot back. "I'm going to be tearing through them pretty quickly."

"I still haven't agreed to give you any," Naruto pointed out.

"It's not like you were even using all of them," Kiba argued. "I was watching you, and you had one just sitting around doing nothing. And there is this new move I wanted try out."

As much as he would love explaining the concept of meditation to his stubborn crew member, Naruto decided it'd be less of a hassle to just go along with him.

"Fine," Naruto agreed. "Four clones, but only until dinner."

After lunch, Naruto went back to training. At least it wasn't a complete waste lending Kiba clones to spar with, they got some training themselves. But with another of his clones taking over the helm, that left only one he had direct control over for training purposes.

But he made do with what he had, continuing his own training as well. It also became clear to him over the course of the afternoon that Tenten was none-too-subtly keeping an eye on Nojiko. And when dinner came around, she again passed on eating the meal Nojiko had prepared.

It looked like he was going to have to step in before this got out of hand. Their evening training session seemed like a good opportunity. And she seemed to be doing a little better than normal so maybe that would put her in a good mood.

Although it was possible that was only because he was a bit distracted trying to figure out the best way to approach the Nojiko issue. When they finally called a stop the training, he decided he shouldn't put this off any longer. And no one else was on the deck to make this any more awkward.

"It seems you're somewhat uncomfortable around Nojiko now, why is that?" he asked.

Tenten paused briefly, most likely considering her words carefully.

"I don't trust her," she admitted. "I can understand not wanting to strand her on an island, but we should find a ship to take her home as soon as possible."

"I promised her she could stay as long as she wanted," Naruto reminded Tenten.

"I know," she responded, "but I don't understand why you did that."

"Because she'd is our ship cook." Naruto pointed out.

"We already have a ship cook— Chōji." Tenten pointed.

"Yeah, but Chōji don't seems to mind working alongside with her," Naruto stated. "And like he says, two cooks are better than one. Plus there is nobody that cooks ramen better than Nojiko."

"You can't seriously be saying that's the reason you told her she could stay, can you?" Tenten questioned with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"I'd like to say there was a much deeper reason," Naruto replied. "But there really isn't much else. But the better question is, what reason is there to send her away?"

"She's a pirate sympathizer," she answered firmly. "We have to constantly watch our own backs as long as we have her on board."

"I see no reason to believe she'd give us trouble with any crew other than the Straw Hat Pirates," Naruto countered, "And it's not even our mission to hunt them down anymore. The Grand Line is a big place. We may never even see them again."

"But there's still no telling what she might do if we did run into them," she argued. "She might even decide it's safest to just get rid of us now—One less group of marines hunting her sister."

"Nojiko is pretty good with a gun, right?" Naruto asked.

"She's more than just good," Tenten told him. "She probably lied about her experience in that matter as well. But that's just one more reason she's dangerous to keep around."

"Well, she had a gun on her when she stopped our fight," he informed Tenten. "So if she's as dangerous as you think, what was to stop her from just shooting one of us in the back rather than halting the fight?"

"I don't know," Tenten said in frustration. "Maybe she just didn't want to risk any witnesses. She might be bolder out at sea."

"Look," Naruto said firmly, "It is prudent not to trust anything she says about the Straw Hat Pirates. But I don't want you following her around the ship or refusing to eat food she's prepared anymore. Understood?"

"Understood," she confirmed.

"Good," Naruto replied. "Then I'm going to turn in for the night."

Deciding the situation was taken care of, Naruto turned and began walking for the stairs, intent to follow through on his plan for sleep.

"You're pretty good at that," Tenten said from behind him.

"Excuse me?" Naruto asked, turning around to face her again.

"Dealing with your subordinates I mean," she clarified. "There's just some quality about you that makes people want to follow your orders."

"Is that so?" Naruto asked, genuinely pleased to hear her say so.

"Captain Smoker was the same way," she added. "It's like you're both natural leaders and something."

"I certainly hope that's the case," Naruto said cheerfully. "I plan to go much further than lieutenant."

"I have a feeling you'll do that," Tenten replied.

"Thanks," Naruto responded simply, "now I really do need that sleep. We should be arriving at Rabbit Island tomorrow and I want to be ready for whatever we run into."

"I'm going to practice marksmanship before I go to bed," Tenten answered. "But good night,"

The day must have been even more exhausting than he'd realized, as Naruto's head had barely touched the pillow when sleep claimed him.

 **0o0o0**

Naruto climbed above deck to greet the morning light. He was glad to see he was still a fast healer, as there was hardly a twinge from his fingers after a night of rest. Nojiko had risen before him today, so he called out a greeting to her.

"Good, you're awake," she told him. "I've wanted to have a chance to talk to you alone."

"You could have spoken to one of my clones," he told her, pointing to the figures that had been running the ship and getting a little training in overnight.

"I know," she replied. "But it just seems a little odd talking about something serious with one of them. I'd rather talk to the real you."

She then paused for a moment as she examined him.

"You are the real you, right?" Nojiko queried.

"Last I checked," he answered with a smirk.

"Well, basically I understand you don't want me to become a pirate," she began, "So it makes sense you offered to let me stay. What I don't get is, why aren't acting more like Tenten?"

"You noticed that, huh?" Naruto replied.

"It was kind of hard to miss," she confirmed. "Given what I did, you should be angry too. So why aren't you?"

"I don't think it's so odd," Naruto answered. "Kiba doesn't seem at all mad at you either."

"It's pretty easy to guess what Kiba's motivations are," Nojiko responded with a grimace.

"But you think mine are different?" he queried.

"Maybe they're not," Nojiko answered. "You are male as well, after all. But I get the feeling there's more to it with you. And either way, I want to hear the reason from your own mouth."

Naruto hadn't really had any desire to have a deep discussion about his feelings. But she seemed determined to get her answer, and he didn't see any real reason to brush her off.

"Did you know my father was an admiral?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "Is he the reason you joined the marines?"

"That's right," Naruto replied. "But back to the point, there was one time my father disobeyed a direct order. And it was a pretty important order too."

"Was he punished for it?" Nojiko asked, obviously intrigued by the tale.

"Well, they demoted him," he admitted. "But he was already dead at the time. Anyway, the important thing is why he disobeyed the order and gave his life. It was to protect his village…and to protect me."

"So you see," Naruto continued, "it's true you deceived me and I should be upset with you for that. But you did it for the sake of your sister. So how could I blame you for that and still defend what my father did?"

"I see," she said solemnly. "Well, I better get started on breakfast. I don't want to listen to Kiba's complaints if there's nothing to eat when he wakes up."

With that Nojiko turned and hurried off the galley. That was a little more awkward than he'd hoped for. Maybe he should have just made some excuse up rather than answering. But he supposed it was still better than her thinking him no better than Kiba.

 **0o0o0**

Rabbit Island looked to be much smaller than Gunsmith Island. There was a single dock made to hold no more than three ships at once. In addition, the small town it serviced looked quite dilapidated. Probably just the sort of place criminals would like to hide out. One ship was already docked at the island, a small sailboat of the type designed to be run by a single person.

Naruto's clones were more than capable of docking the ship themselves. So Naruto and his crew were all on deck waiting to depart as the ship pulled in. That was when they saw a group of people walking their direction. It appeared to be one man leading ten bound captives.

"Do you think that's our kidnapper?" Kiba asked from beside him.

Taking a quick peek through the telescope, Naruto study the lead man's appearance. He was a tall brown haired man, who looks around Naruto's age. Although it was harder to tell with dark sunglasses and the high collared coat that obscured his face almost up to the nose.

Naruto also had begun studying the man's prisoners. They look like type to be rough looking men, who would easily stand out in a beauty contest.

"If he is," Naruto stated, "he seems to be kidnapping the ugliest people he can find."

"Whatever he's doing, we should probably investigate," Tenten suggested.

Naruto agreed, and the entire crew disembarked, approaching the man who was still headed in their direction. But it seemed they weren't the only ones intent on confronting their target. One of the villagers was walking towards the man leading the prisoners. Naruto guesses he must be the village leader.

"I have bad news sir," the village mayor says. "The rest of the prisoners that you caught earlier had made their escape on your ship."

"Is that so?" said the man with dark sunglass and coat.

"You don't seem to look worried?" the mayor says. "They just stole your ship?"

"Only because I let them escape." said the man dark sunglass. "Following them from Gunsmith Island was simple. Now that the rest of the kidnappers left to go back to their hidden base, it will be easier for me to find them."

Excuse me," Naruto interrupted, "but if I heard correctly…are these the men who were kidnapping people from Gunsmith Island?"

"That's right," the man with dark sunglass replied. "Are you bounty hunters too? If so you're too late."

"Actually, we're with the marines," Naruto replied.

"Is that so?" he says before he passes on the prisoners to them. "Well if you're marines then you can have them. It will save me a lot of time to get to the kidnappers hidden base before they flee."

"There is no need for that." said Kiba. "We were sends by G-4 Base to confront and arrested the kidnapers."

"G-4 Base?" the man with dark sunglass repeated with a shock tone. "You're under Rear Admiral Kakashi's command?"

"That's right," says Shikamaru. "You know Rear Admiral Kakashi?"

"Not personally but from my former commander when I once served in the marines." the man with dark sunglass told them.

"You're former marine?" Tenten repeated.

"I was," the man with dark sunglass says. "Former Marine Commander Shino Aburame, now a current bounty hunter."

"Well Shino Aburame," Naruto says. "Do you by any chance really know where the rest of the kidnappers are?"

"I do," says Shino. "I have a way of tracking them to their location."I believe there is more to this than we have yet discovered. Following them may lead us to answers. That is if you're willing to assist me in pursuing them."

"Our mission is to hunt these kidnappers down," Naruto replied. "If you can lead us to them, then I'm all for it."

"Good," Shino replied simply. "Are you ready to depart?"

"Almost," Naruto answered. "But first I think I'll introduce you to the rest of crew. This here is Kiba Inuzuka, Akamaru, Tenten, Nojiko, with Chōji Akimichi, Shikamaru Nara. I'm Naruto D. Namikaze, the captain of the ship.

Shino nodded briefly to each of them as they were introduced, then began heading to the ship without further comment. He certainly wasn't the most warm and friendly of people. Following after him, Naruto was back on the ship. Once on board, Shino stopped in his tracks, having caught site of Naruto's clones.

"Interesting," he said calmly before moving out of the way to let Naruto and his crew finish boarding.

Naruto was a bit disappointed by the subdued reaction to his power. He always got a bit of a kick out of the surprise people usually expressed. Shino, however, simply moved the starboard side of the ship and pointed out a direction.

"They're that way," he told them.

"You're sure?" Naruto asked.

"Very sure," Shino answered.

Naruto couldn't see anything that would indicate where he was getting that information from….a devil fruit power of his perhaps?

"Are you a devil fruit user?" Nojiko asked him, apparently coming to a similar conclusion.

"I am," he answered, but didn't seem inclined to elaborate.

"Set course in that direction," Naruto ordered when it was clear he wasn't going to get anything further.

 **0o0o0**

As they sailed, Shino proved to be frustratingly uncommunicative. He was open enough about what he knew regarding these kidnappers, which was very little. But he refused to answer any questions that he felt didn't have anything to do with their current task.

Naruto quickly ran out of patience with the bounty hunter, and went off to do a little light training, nothing that would tire him out before they arrived. But he didn't have long to train as the kidnappers hadn't gone far. This place they'd fled to wasn't so much of an island as a chunk of rock jutting out of the water like a giant stalagmite.

It didn't look more than 300 yards at its widest. There wasn't even a dock, just two small ships not much larger than their ship's rowboat tied to the shore. There appeared to be an entrance to a cave in the face of the rock. He had to assume that's where their targets were hiding.

"We've likely already been spotted," Naruto told them. "I don't want us stuck on the rowboat if they start shooting at us, so I'm taking the ship in close. Hopefully we won't hit any rocks."

But the steep slope of the rock face must have continued beyond the water's edge, as they were able to anchor less than ten feet from the shore without hitting anything. And during that time, no one had yet come out of the cave.

Moving to the bow of the ship, Naruto easily leaped across the water to land on the shore. Kiba and Akamaru followed suit, and Naruto was pleased to see even Shino had no trouble with the jump. Tenten, Chōji and Shikamaru also follow afterwards.

Nojiko on the other was the only one on the deck of the ship.

Are you going to jump Nojiko?" Chōji asked.

Looking nervous, Nojiko made an excuse "I'd rather not get my gun wet… do any of you think you could help me down?"

"Just throw us your gun," Kiba suggested hopefully. "Then you can dive in safely."

"I can carry you across if you'd prefer," Naruto offered, trying to be a bit more helpful than his friend.

"Better than getting wet, I suppose," Nojiko answered.

In response, Naruto popped a clone into existence next to her on the deck. Lifting her over its shoulder, it jumped the distance, setting her down before vanishing.

"You're getting nothing from me on your birthday," Kiba muttered from next to him.

Ignoring his friend, Naruto orders "All right…let's move out. And let tries to be careful…in have a feeling the kidnappers knows we're here."

Entering the cave, they paused a moment to adjust to the dimmer light. They could see some illumination coming from further ahead, so at least they wouldn't have to deal with total darkness. Moving through the passage it soon widened into a larger cavern.

A man stood at the far end from the entrance watching them come. He was wearing glasses and gray hair pulled back into ponytail. The gray color didn't seem to be a result of age however, which Naruto would guess to be somewhere in his mid twenties.

"This is as far as you go." said the man with glasses. "I had a feeling those idiots were going bring unwelcome guest back to the lair."

Something about the first man in the glasses looked very familiar, and he searched through his memories trying to place him. With a flash, he had what he wanted.

"You're Kabuto," he declared. "The First Officer of Orochimaru."

"Orochimaru?" Chōji repeated. "You mean the former member of the Shichibukai who disappeared several years ago?"

It was when Naruto noticed how very nervous Shikamaru looks. This was surprisingly as he never thought Shikamaru to be the nervous type. Yet looking at his eyes…Naruto saw an aura of fear.

"I'm flattered you recognize me," he replied. "But I'm afraid I can't let you leave alive. If the Marines find out that Orochimaru has emerged into the radar the first thing they are going to do is sends Garp or—"

He stops when he suddenly gazed at Shikamaru and says in a surprise tone "Well I'll be damn…is that you Shikamaru Nara?"

Everyone was shock of what Kabuto has says. They all look back at Shikamaru and Kabuto, to see if there is a connection between them.

"Shikamaru you know this guy?" Chōji asked his best friend.

"I'm surprise you never told your friends about me Shikamaru," Kabuto mocked Shikamaru. "After all, if it wasn't for me and Orochimaru, you would never had those—"

 **"SHADOW POSSESSION!"**

With speed that can rival a Rokushiki user that master Soru, Shikamaru 's shadow speedily moves toward Kabuto's shadows, trapping him where he stands.

"I wait a long time for this!" Shikamaru savagely says as trap Kabuto with his shadows. "I been dreaming this moment, opposing to the nightmares I suffered since I was a child. I wish your boss was here so I can pay him back for twisted experiments he inflicted on me."

"Twisted experiments?" Naruto repeated looking confused.

"Look around!" Shikamaru told his crew. "This cave…this is just one of Orochimaru's sadistic experiments hideouts. The kidnapped people…he been using them for his experiments."

Hearing that, Naruto suddenly begin to look around the cave they were in. As he did, he then begun to notice some very unpleasant features.

There was a corpse tied to a table with his chest sliced open. It looked like someone had been examining the organs inside. There was a second corpse floating face down in a tank of water. A third was chained to a wall with no visible markings, but looking no more alive than the other two.

His entire crew seemed to be utterly appalled by the sight of this horror. Chōji look like he was going to throw up. Nojiko was backing away from the nearest body. Tenten was gripping her guns so tightly her hand was shaking. Kiba seems to shudder in revolt. Akamaru started whimper in dread. Shino's face remains unchanged, yet Naruto has a feeling he was equally disgusted of what he sees.

"I'd ordered them to bring more test subjects even when the project was now over," Kabuto informed him. "When they came back alone, the only reasonable conclusion was that they volunteers their own bodies."

"You did this to your own men?" Tenten cried out in a fury.

"This is the sickest, most depraved thing I've ever seen," Kiba added. "You're a monster."

"Don't worry." Shikamaru vowed. "This monster is going to die!"

"Wait Shikamaru," Naruto stops him. "We can't kill a prisoner under our care."

"He's too dangerous to be kept a prisoner Naruto!" Shikamaru snapped. "I'm killing him right here , while I—"

"Hey…what is that?" Nojiko shouted in interruption.

 **AN**

 **T:** The reason Chopper is not on the crew is because this scene is between Little Garden Arc and Drum Kingdom Arc. Also, Naruto and his crew will be on equally terms with Luffy and his crew, so throughout the storyline, I'm going help Naruto and his crew get stronger and stronger, as well as becoming better fighters.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Serious Situations**

 **Rabbit Island**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

It was without warning, Naruto and the crew was suddenly aware of a vast figure right behind them very close.

This figure was man, yet build in enormous size, being 689 cm tall. His overall appearance resembles that of a bear, though there are a few key differences. His eyes are strangely covered by either a pair of glasses or clear-mirrored lenses. His hair and jacket are black, and his hat and pants is gray with black paw-like prints.

Nojiko was the first to notice the figure behind them and shouted a warning. Everyone turn and just in time to see the bear-like figure ready to attack them. They quickly evade the attack before it hits them. Shikamaru was forced to let go of Kabuto in order to get out of the way.

"Hold on a second," Tenten as she study the attacker's appearance. "That guy…that guy is Bartholomew Kuma the Tyrant."

Everyone was alarmed the moment they heard of Bartholomew Kuma. He was also another member of the Shichibukai, who was describes as a violent, tyrannical pirate, who was said to be "brutal beyond measure". Worthy of the nickname Tyrant, his former bounty was 296,000,000 berries.

They all wondered just what a man like that doing here? Is he working for Kabuto…or Orochimaru.

"Not really," Kabuto disagreed with Tenten. "This here is a Pacifista. From what I learned the World Government had been secretly modeling Pacifistas to adopt the image of Kuma. It too bad they can model Kuma's devil fruit powers."

"Pacifista?" Naruto repeated.

"Human weapons." Kabuto says simply. "My friend here is one of the cyborgs that were built in the mold of the Kuma, who was the cyborg prototype for the project. I heard that the funds required for the construction of just one Pacifista are roughly equal to that of a Marine-issued battleship. However with Orochimaru's vast resources, building a dozen of them will be no problem."

"You mean there is more like him?" Kiba reacted.

"Only one on the island, enough to wipe all of you in an instant." Kabuto sneered. "He's strong enough to easily handle a pirate worthy around 300,000,000 berries…and for me to make my leave off this island."

"You're not going anywhere you—" Shikamaru was cut off when the Pacifista attacked him. At the same time, Kabuto makes his escape to one of the tunnels of the cave.

Cursing, Shikamaru turns to Naruto and says "Naruto—go after him—don't let him escape!"

"I'm not leaving any of you behind fighting that thing!" said Naruto.

"You can't let Kabuto get away!" Shikamaru snapped. "We'll take of this guy—GO!"

Naruto hesitated for a moment. Finally, after making a decision, he chased after Kabuto, leaving the other alone with the Pacifista.

Chōji says to Nojiko "Nojiko keep your distance. I don't want get hurt in the crossfire."

"Ok?" Nojiko replied.

 **"Shadow Possession!"** Shikamaru shouted. Shikamaru's shadow stretches to the Pacifista's, confident it will hold him in place.

But to his shock, even through his shadow now links to the Pacifista's, Shikamaru finds his effort to be futile as the Pacifista's immense strength broke his control through his shadows.

"That's embarrassing," Shikamaru mumbles. "This is the first time I met someone strong enough to break control of Shadow Possession."

"I got this guy!" Kiba shouted. "It's time to test out my new moves!"

"Kiba, no!" Shikamaru shouted.

 **"Four Legs Soru!"**

After his fight with Sanji, Kiba begin looking for ways to improve his fighting style. For starters, he begins relearning Soru to improve his speeds. The basic of Soru was to kick off the ground at least ten times in the blink of an eye. However, Kiba has learned that he can use his arms to strike the ground at least ten times in the blink of an eye. Calling it Four Leg Soru, Kiba is capable of moving at high speed movement and reflexes like that of a wild animal and speed greater than a Rokushiki user who uses only hi two legs to move through Soru.

 **"Shigan Claw Strike!"**

With all his strength, Kiba struck his foe in the face...only to howl in pain.

"Owww!" Kiba cried out in holding his injury hand. "My hand!"

The Pacifista was about to strike Kiba on the ground when Chōji stops him.

 **"Expand Fist!"**

Choji's fist grew into vast size and smashes the Pacifista, sending it crashing into the wall of the cave.

"His hand just...got bigger?"Nojiko reacted. "Did...he eaten a devil fruit?"

"Yeah," said Shikamaru. " Chōji eaten the Karorī Karorī no mi. It's a Paramecia Devil Fruit that gives him the ability to converts the calories he consumes into energy for combat use."

"Calories ?" Nojiko repeated, looking confused.

"A unit of energy within food," Shikamaru begins to explain simply. "Human beings eat or drink in order to store calories in their body to function. For example if you eaten a can of spaghetti and meatballs you consume 260 calories or if you drink a bottle of Aloe you also consume 100 calories into your body."

"But for someone like Chōji who eaten the Karorī Karorī no mi, this can be a great advantage to him," Shikamaru added. "He can use his calories for various combat forms—such as to greatly boost his strength, growing selected or whole parts of his body to the size of a giant, or generated kinetic energy from his body."

"Is that why he's so—" Nojiko was about to asked, but Shikamaru gentle stops her lips with his finger.

"—fat?" Shikamaru whispered the word before he replied "Yeah something like that. Chōji loves to eat as well as cook. But do me a favor don't call him that. He's gets mad when people called him fat."

"Gotcha." Nojiko reply.

The two of them turn their attention back to the fight. Despite Chōji's punch, the Pacifista was back on his feet. From the looks of it, it would seem Chōji's Expand Punch didn't bother him at all.

"This guy tougher than he looks," said Chōji. "Guess I'm going had to hit him much harder."

Chōji raised his fist, enlarging it. He was about to strike his foe with Expand Hammer Fist when Pacifista open his mouth and glowing bright light appears inside it. Seeing this, Shikamaru quickly uses his devil fruit power to sends his shadow to the Pacifista's, forcing it to turn his head to another direction.

A beam of light came out of the Pacifista's mouth and hits the cave wall, causing a huge explosion.

 **"Expand Hammer Fist!"**

Chōji's vast fist come flashing down on the Pacifista—only for the Pacifista to catch it, stopping it at its tracks.

Chōji seems surprise on how the Pacifista stops his attack. He raised and enlarged his other fist, in attempt to conduct a Double Expand Hammer Fist. However, the Pacifista charged at Chōji with alarming speeds.

 **"Shadow Possession!"** Shikamaru yelled.

Shikamaru's shadow once again stops the Pacifista that was almost upon Chōji.

 **"Double Expand Hammer Fist!"** Chōji shouted. He brought both his great fists once again down, smashing him brutally.

"Did you get that guy?" Kiba asked, holding his injury.

There was silence in the room as everyone continues to stare at the site where Chōji smashes the Pacifista. Then to their horror, the Pacifista again back on his feet, as if Chōji's attack did little to him.

"What this guy made of" Nojiko asked in a shocked tone.

"Nojiko look out!" Shikamaru shouted.

The Pacifista raised his hand, aiming at Nojiko, ready to fired a beam of light at her. However, Shino appear out of no where and saved her. The two of them evade the light blast before it hits them.

"Thanks Shino." said Nojiko.

"Try to be careful to not stand around during a battle," Shino warned her. "Unless you wanted to die."

"How are we going to beat this guy?" Chōji asked, his face with pure disbelief of watching his bests attacks proved to be ineffective against the Pacifista."

"Let me handle something." Shino says. It was without warning, Shino's whole body turn into a swarm of bugs.

"I take you eaten a devil fruit as well?" Nojiko asked.

"I did," said Shino. "This is the power of the Mure Mure No Mi."

"The Mure Mure No Mi?" Shikamaru repeated.

"You know it Shikamaru?" Chōji asked.

"Yeah,"Shikamaru explained. "It's a Paramecia devil fruit which allows the user to turn his whole body into vast swarm of bugs and insects."

"You mean he made up of bugs?" Nojiko reacted, looked like she was going be sick."

"Something like that," he replied. "Yet I heard the Mure Mure No Mi is a special kind of devil fruit. While is label as a Paramecia-type, it work as both a logia and a zoan."

Shino ignored the conversation around him, as he remains focus on the Pacifista. Charging up, he finally begins attack.

 **"Swarm Attack!"**

In an instant, Shino unleashed a vast amount of insects, straight at the Pacifista's direction. The swarm of bugs quickly covered up the Pacifista's body in mere seconds.

"What are those bugs doing?" Chōji asked, curious.

"I'm ordering them to drain the Pacifista's strength," Shino told them. 'That way we could drain the fight out of him."

He kept quiet for a moment as he seems to be focus his powers on the Pacifista. Then a shocked tone of voice from him says "No...that's not possible..."

Before he fully finished his words, the Pacifista blasts all the bugs off him in an instant.

"What happened?" Kiba asked, looking confused. "I thought you got that guy in a corner?"

"My insects," Shino replied, still shocked. "They told me...they told me that there was nothing left of him to drain."

"Nothing left to drain?" Tenten repeated. "What is that suppose to mean."

Before Shino was about to explained, Akamaru barked a warning and everyone look to sees that the Pacifista was ready to fired another beam attack at them. Everyone scatter to dodges it. Akamaru uses Soru for the first time and swoops between Tenten's and Nojiko's legs, carrying both of them on his back.

The Pacifista's beam blast causes another explosion, causing boulders from above to fall from down...a majority of them cutting between Nojiko and Akamaru and the others.

"Nojiko!"Chōji screamed.

"Akamaru! Tenten!" Kiba yelled. "We got help them!"

"Don't worry about them," Shikamaru told him. "I think there fine! Right we needs to defeated guy first before we got help them."

"But..." Kiba tries to protests.

"Shikamaru is right Kiba," Shino says. "As long as that Pacifista is still standing, we can't afford to turn our back on it, no for a second."

 **0o0o0**

Naruto really didn't want leave the rest of his crew fighting a foe that looks like the infamous Tyrant. Yet Shikamaru convinces him that they will handle him and that he needs to go after Kabuto before he gets away.

He wonders if he's in over his head with this. Had he bitten off more than he'd bargain for? Despite the training and responsibility he was handed, Naruto begin wonder if he should stay back in the East Blue Sea. It would have been easier for him to handle simple assignments to handle his duties more carefully. Right now, he's becoming even worried of the situation.

"You know," Kabuto's voice suddenly spoken stopping Naruto in his tracks. "It's really stupid of you to follow after me alone by yourself."

Naruto traces to where the voice comes from. He spots Kabuto, who appeared to been waiting, as if he doesn't have a care in the world.

"I think I handle you by myself." Kabuto sneered. "I let the Pacifista take care of your friends."

"Don't underestimate my friends!" Naruto warned. "I have faith that they will defeat that Pacifista of yours!"

"Is that so?" Kabuto mocked. "I doubt it! You only have faith in your abilities, not your friends!"

"You don't know anything about me!" Naruto shot back.

"Is that so?" Kabuto says. "Let see...Lieutenant Naruto D. Namikaze...son of the disgraceful Yellow Flash who been reduce from the rank of Admiral to Commodore. Born and raise in Leaf Island of the Grand Line. Joined the marines a year ago and enrolled in the Marine Academy which he became the top of his class. One of the few people in history to receives special military training by both legendary marine officers, Admiral Black Arm Zephyr and Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp...did I get all that right?"

Naruto was stun of what he just heard. This was their first meeting and yet Kabuto gave out much details of his life easily.

"You are beginning to wondering how the hell I could know so much of your life." Kabuto told him. "It's simple, gathering information on every known figure in the Grand Line is my specialty. Reading their character profiles is one, especially you."

"You're lying!" Naruto retort, refused to believed what he heard.

"Oh really?" Kabuto mocked. "From my estimated standpoint—you worship your father completely, everything that he and what he does. Yet your devotion to your father is so solemn, you'll do anything redeemed his good name—even mean sacrificing your crew and friends!"

"I would never do that!" Naruto angrily snapped.

"Oh yes you will!" Kabuto sneered. "I know about your exploits…from the East Blue Sea to G-4 Base of the Grand Line. Studying every detail of your adventures, I profile your true character—ambitious, greedy, naïve, reckless, and ignorant."

Naruto was angry at first, but he quickly clam himself down. The last thing he wants to do is lose his cool. The first officer of a member of the Shichibukai was unlikely to be a pushover, so he wouldn't be much of a captain if he didn't confront this threat himself. Still, as he'd pointed out, this was probably a dangerous man. Some caution was called for.

Summoning twenty-five clones around his opponent, he hung back deciding to use them to gauge Kabuto's abilities.

"So that's the power of the Jūfuku Jūfuku No Mi—that's fascinating power," Kabuto told him. "Tell me, do they function like normal bodies? I would love to have a self replicating test subject. It would be a huge boon for my research."

But Naruto wasn't going have conversation with Kabuto any longer. He had all twenty-five clones attack simultaneously. For his part, Kabuto pulled out a dagger, and attempted to defend himself. As the battle began Naruto realized that Kabuto really was very good. He had yet to be overwhelmed even by all of Naruto's clones.

But he was nothing Naruto couldn't handle. He was so busy defending himself he hardly got a chance to attack and had yet to even take out a clone. Meanwhile, Kabuto had even taken a few glancing blows. Deciding he'd seen enough, Naruto moved in himself to finish this.

As he neared his target, a dangerous glint in the man's eyes lit off warning light's in Naruto's head. Trusting his instincts, Naruto began to change course almost before he saw Kabuto charging him. Leaning back, to avoid the incoming swipe with the dagger, he didn't quite get away unscathed as it left a cut beneath his eye.

Quickly backpedaling Naruto realized how close he had come to loosing an eye.

"Hmm ... it seems you're a bit faster than your clones," Kabuto said with an wicked grin. "I'll keep that in mind for the next time."

As if it hadn't already been clear he'd been holding back as a trap. In an instant, Kabuto began making quick work of Naruto's clones in a blink of eye. He was fast, so very fast. Naruto couldn't hope to match him in speed, he wasn't even close. Naruto suddenly found himself afflicted by something he'd never felt in combat before—Fear.

 **0o0o0**

If it wasn't for Akamaru, Nojiko and Tenten would have been dead. The great dog manages to saved her a second before a huge boulders was about to crush her.

"Thanks Akamaru," said Nojiko. "I owe you one."

"Me too!" Tenten also says.

Akamaru barked in appreciation which means your welcome.

Looking at the boulders in front of them, Nojiko says "It looks to me like we can't go that way. That means we have to find another way to get to the others."

"Yeah," Tenten agreed. "Which means we had to go through this way? However, estimated are path down there this place looks like a maze...which it will be long time before we find our way back to the others."

"Do you think the others are able to handle that monster back there?" Nojiko asked

"I don't know," Tenten says, looking worried. "But from the way that Pacifista absorbs all our attacks—I don't think we have a chance."

"Then we need to find our way out of here and get to the others?" Nojiko says determinedly.

It was when Akamaru barked loud and repeatedly to gains their attention. Then he begin running ahead, stop for a moment to look back at them.

"I think he is trying to signal us is to follow him." Nojiko says.

"Does he know how to get out of here?" Tenten asked.

"I don't know," said Nojiko. "But I'm willing to give it a shot."

"I'll agree on that." said Tenten.

Together, the two of them followed after Akamaru. Akamaru guided them through the maze of the hallways. Through the looks of where they are going, the place seems vast, easiy to get lost. Yet Akamaru seems to know where he's going.

They finally arrived at their destination—what appeared to be a lab.

"What is this place?" Nojiko asked, confused. "Is this a lab?"

"I think so," said Tenten as she study the place. "This is must be where the kidnapped people and—Holy crap!"

"Holy crap!" Tenten reacted with shocked and excited tone. "I don't believe it."

"What is it?" Nojiko asked a little caught off guard by the tone of surprise in Tenten's voice. Her gazed follow where Tenten was looking at—a strange looking fruit, brown all over it with blue spots across. It took Nojiko a while to figure it out before she asked "Is…is that a Devil fruit?"

"Not just any devil fruit?" Tenten says with sudden excitement as she slowlsy approaches it. "This is the Madan Madan no Mi."

"The what?" Nojiko asked once more, looking confused.

"The Madan Madan no Mi," Tenten repeated. "I read on a devil fruit dictionary that whoever eaten this fruit has the ability to produce an unlimited amount of ammunition, making them an Ammo Person."

"So this is fruit that gives the user the ability to created endless amount of bullets huh?" Nojiko guesses.

"More than that," Tenten begins to state. "This fruit also has gives the user the ability to infused special properties on its bullets, for example a bullet could have the explosive power of a cannon ball."

Then without warning, Tenten begin eating the fruit, surprising Nojiko.

"Hey what are you doing?" Nojiko cried out.

"The Madan Madan no Mi is a godsend to snipers like myself," Tenten says while eating. "And with that monster back there, we going need every—every—"

Tenten fells to her knee, holding her stomach as it are about to burst.

"Hey, Tenten," Nojiko reacted becoming concern of her friend. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine Nojiko, thank you," Tenten replied as she continues to finished eating the devil fruit she found. "I just need…I just need a couple of minutes to adjust the taste."

"The taste?" Nojiko repeated.

"They say that devil fruit taste is worse than you could ever imagine." Tenten explained, trying so hard not to vomit. "I guess what they says is—"

Tenten's words were cut off by Akamaru's sudden barks which Nojiko turn and says "What is it Akamaru? Did you found something?"

Nojiko walked towards Akamaru, to see what he found. He was standing in front of what looks to be a large container. Inside the container was the body of person.

"Who's that?" she asked.

 **Devil Fruits**

 **Karorī Karorī no mi** **(Calorie Calorie Fruit):** The Karorī Karorī no mi is a Paramecia Devil Fruit that gives the user the ability to transform his/her own calories into energy for combat purposes. The fruit was eaten by Chōji Akimichi, making him a Calorie Human.

 **Mure Mure No Mi (Swarm Swarm Fruit):** The Mure Mure No Mi is a Paramecia devil fruit which allows the user to change into a swarm of insects. The fruit was eaten by Shino Aburame, transforming him into a Hive Human.

 **Madan Madan no Mi** **(Ammo Ammo Fruit):** The Madan Madan no Mi is a Paramecia-type devil fruit that grants the user the ability to produce an unlimited amount of ammunition, making them a Ammo Person. Madan can be translated to "magic bullet" however the devil fruit encompasses any and all kinds of ammunition, including fire, ice, arrows, cannonballs, etc.. The fruit was eaten by Tenten


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: Operation Fire From Heaven**

 **Rabbit Island**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

Inside the container was looks to be a creature. It's appearance was foxlike, with nine long swiping tails. It has red-orange fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands.

While creature looks terrifying, Nojiko has a feeling he was a prisoner here, capture for Orochimaru's twisted experiments. What else could he be? Not thinking that long for a moment, Nojiko begin checked the container and found a lock. Touching it, it suddenly open and a steam of smoke came out. The moment the smoke came out, the fox man came out of it, falling on his knees, gasping for breath.

"Hey," she asked, slowly, yet carefully approaching downed prisoner. "Are you all right?"

"Where am I?" the fox man asked for the first time after taking a deep breath.

"You're on Rabbit Island." she told him.

"Rabbit Island?" the fox repeated, looking confused.

"You were a prisoner here?" she explained him. "I found you in that container and I guess you were kidnapped to be experimented on."

"Experimented on?" the fox repeated, before he thought for a moment quickly reacted "Yes...I remember. I remember everything."

"You do?" Nojiko asked.

"Nojiko who's that you're talking to?"

Nojiko turns and saw that Tenten finally recovers from eating the devil fruit she found.

"You're a marine?" the fox man asked when he noticed Tenten's uniform.

"Yes I 'am," Tenten says.

"Good, I'm also a marine as well," says the Fox man.

"You are?" Nojiko asked in surprise.

"Yes." fox says. "Warrant Officer Kurama of the Marines."

"What are you doing here Warrant Officer?!" Tenten reacted. "How did you ended up here as a prisoner Orochimaru?"

"I was sends here by Vice Admiral Jiraiya on a special mission," said Kurama. "To investigate if Orochimaru is behind the kidnappings."

"So Orochimaru really is behind the kidnappings." said Nojiko.

"Yes," said Kurama. "But I found something even more worse. And I need to get in contact to Vice Admiral Jiraiya as quickly as possible."

 **0o0o0**

Shikamaru, Chōji', Kiba, and Shino jump out of the way before the Pacifista's beam blasts touches them. Although they manage to get out of the way, they were still injured by the blast waves of the Pacifista's attack sends them flying.

"That guy's beam attacks reminded me of Admiral Kizaru's attack." says Kiba.

"I don't get it," says Chōji, looked confused. "How is this guy has powers similar to Admiral Kizaru's?"

"I don't think this guy has devil fruit power similar to Admiral Kizaru's devil fruit Chōji," says Shino. "I estimated that it would take a genius to artificially copied the destructive attacks of the Pika Pika no Mi."

"On top of that," Kiba added. "This guy is super strong and super tough. Just what kind of monster this guy is made of?"

"We need to be focusing on beating this guy first," says Shikamaru. "Chōji…get ready to do your thing."

"Ok Shikamaru," Chōji replied.

"Your thing?" Kiba repeated, looking confused.

 **"Human Bullet Cannon!"** Chōji yelled.

In an instant, Chōji's whole body transformed into a human-sized ball, tucking in his limbs and uses energy to propel themselves into a powerful roll. Estimated the serious force of the rotation, this attack look like it will cause those that come into contact with it to be pulverized.

 **"Shadow Clutch!"** Shikamaru shouted.

In a moment, Shikamaru materializes their shadow and increases its power, becoming like steel. Linking to Chōji's shadow, Shikamaru now control the powerful force of Chōji's rotation. He then turns his attention at the Pacifista and shouted **"Human Bullet Yo-Yo!"**

Shikamaru directed Chōji's rotation at the Pacifista. The attack forces the Pacifista slamming him into the wall of the cave. However, Shikamaru kept on and on, using destructive rotation to repeated smashes the Pacifista.

"That's it! Keep on going!" Kiba shouted in encouragement. "Don't stop until that bastard is not standing on his feet!"

Through his Shadow Clutch, Shikamaru continue to uses Chōji's Human Bullet Cannon to smashed the Pacifista repeatedly. Yet, it was without warning, just as Chōji's Human Bullet Cannon was about to strike once more, the Pacifista counterattack.

It brutally punch Chōji's Human Bullet Cannon form, stopping the attack and render him into his normal form.

"Chōji'!" Shikamaru cried out in anxiety.

The Pacifista aimed both his hands directly at Chōji. It looks like he was ready to fire another beam attack. Then without warning, his hands exploded, creating smoke from it.

"Hey...what just happened?" Kiba says, looking confused.

The smoke clears and the Pacifista's destroyed hands revealed to be a technological wrecked hands. However, everyone noticed something from within the damaged cyborg hand, and looking closer, it was discovered to be a swarm of bugs.

Seeing that, Shikamaru turn to Shino and asked "I take you're responsible right?"

"You could say that." says Shino.

Uh guys," Kiba says, raising his voice. "It look like this guy is not done yet."

Everyone turns and was surprise to see the Pacifista who looks like he is still determined to fight, despite his destroyed hands. They seems to be on the verge of both annoyance and exhaustion of how persisted this Pacifista is—when unexpected help came.

 **"Electro Fist!"**

It was without warning, someone attacked the Pacifista with electrical fist. The attack was so powerful and serious, and sends the Pacifista back, crashing into the wall. All the boys were surprise of this newcomer—who revealed to be a very tall, red-orange, foxlike man with nine tails.

"Who is that?" Kiba cried out.

"That's Warrant Officer Kurama of the Marines," Shikamaru says, who look shock.

"You know him Shikamaru?" repeated Chōji.

"What he's doing here?" Shino asked, who looked confused.

"He was sends here on mission by Vice Admiral Jiraiya," Tenten says, who appeared behind them, alongside Nojiko and Akamaru. "To investigate whatever Orochimaru was behind the kidnappings until he was capture, imprison, and experimented on."

Facing Kurama, Shikamaru asked "So you and Vice Admiral Jiraiya know Orochimaru is at again?"

"We suspected it when we heard about the kidnappings," Kurama explained. "I made mistake of investigating too deep and ended up capture, tortured, and experimented on. It's a good thing this girl Nojiko found me and free. I need get in contact to Vice Admiral Jiraiya and informed him of what I discovered."

"First we need to get to Naruto," says Nojiko. "He could be in serious trouble—"

"Naruto?" Kurama interrupted with a surprise look. "Do you say Naruto? Naruto D. Namikaze?"

 **0o0o0**

It was all Naruto could do to keep replacing the clones that were being destroyed to prevent Kabuto from reaching him. He was almost in a panic now. Nothing his clones tried worked, and even though they weren't quite as fast as he was, he knew the difference wouldn't be enough.

"What joke!" Kabuto mocked Naruto as he easily destroyed all his clones. "I knew you were just an upstart that is wasting my time. Guess you're going wish you stay in the East Blue Sea—the Grand Line is no place for weaklings like you!"

Ignoring Kabuto's mockery, every scenario he ran in his mind ended the same way. Even with his clones for interference Kabuto's attack would hit first should he fight directly. Especially as the man would go straight for the real Naruto.

But maybe he could use Tekkai. He was nearly certain he could withstand a blow from the dagger, which would then give him the opportunity to counterattack. He was about to go with that plan a thought stopped him.

No, that would almost certainly fail too. He couldn't move when using his Tekkai, and Kabuto was just too fast. He'd be able to dance back after the strike before Naruto would get in a counter. But there was a solution, he'd just been letting his fear blind him to some of the options.

Kabuto's strike would hit first, he was certain of the fact. But that was the key to everything. With all the clones he'd lost fighting Kabuto, he was getting a lot of information on his opponent's fighting style. So he had a pretty good idea of how this exchange he had planned would go. At least he hoped so.

Charging Kabuto personally, he saw the man accept his challenge and head straight for him. He used his clones the best he could to slow and distract the man. Meanwhile he twisted his own body, which caused the downward diagonal slash that was aimed at his neck to miss by a couple of inches, burying itself in Naruto's shoulder left shoulder instead.

But the whole time Kabuto had been swinging, Naruto's own right arm hand had already been in motion. Only a moment after blade cut into his shoulder, Naruto sent a Shigan into and right through Kabuto's wrist. Kabuto dropped the dagger involuntarily and Naruto quickly kicked it away.

Kabuto leaped back and was already ripping his shirt with his left hand and wrapping it around the wound to staunch the bleeding. Naruto was having one his clones rip his own shirt to do the same to his wound. But Naruto was very pleased with the success of his plan.

Kabuto's strike had hit first, as he'd known it would. But that hadn't meant it would be the only attack to land. And Kabuto had lost his weapon hand and his weapon. Naruto meanwhile had a shoulder wound on the side of his off hand.

"Very trickery," Kabuto sneered after his bandages his injury. "However…"

It was without warning Kabuto vanishes from plain sight. The next moment, Kabuto appeared in front of Naruto and shouted **Shigan "Oren"**

Using Soru Speed, Kabuto uses his other uninjured hand and stabs Naruto with his finger multiple times. Naruto fell to his knees, blood coming from his chest and blood.

"You're going need more than just tricks under your sleeves." Kabuto concluded.

"You—you can uses Soru and Shigan?" Naruto reacted with a pure shock.

"Of course I can." Kabuto sneered. "I can even uses the other four powers of Rokushiki. I'm a Rokushiki Master, unlike you."

"I was holding back mostly for a moment to see how far you progress," he told Naruto. "Guess you're too early for the big leagues. You should have stay in the East Blue Sea...too bad you're going to die before you learns your lesson."

Naruto watches helplessly as Kabuto prepared another Shigan and knew it was going to be the final blow that will end his life. But before he was about kill Naruto someone shouted **"Shadow Possession!"**

However, as fast Shikamaru's powers is, Kabuto has enough time to stop his attack and uses Soru to get out of the way of the shadow that trying to linked to his. Naruto looked and was surprise to see his friends arrived.

"This is a shocking," Kabuto says as he watches the arrival of Naruto's friends. He then sees Kurama and says "Now I see the picture…seems like Kurama steps in and took care of the Pacifista…it's the only you all survived."

"It's over Kabuto!" Kurama snarls. "Surrender!"

"I don't think so," Kabuto says. "And even if you tells your boss or other marine superiors, it's already too late—Operation Fire From Heaven has begun."

"Operation what?" Nojiko repeated in confusion.

It was without warning a huge explosion was heard, shaking the whole cave. It was also follow by another explosion, shaking the cave even more violently.

"What the hell is that?" Kiba cried out.

"This cave is equipped with high-level explosions," Kabuto told the group. "I activated the switch before my fight with Naruto. None of you are all getting out of here alive. But for me, I'll be on my way home."

"You're not going anywhere Kabuto!" Shikamaru shouted. He attempted to uses Shadow Possession to tries to catch Kabuto's shadow yet Kabuto uses Soru to evade the attack, vanishing from sight."

"We got to get out of here now!"Kurama shouted. "This place is falling apart."

Not wasting time, everyone begun rushing to the nearest exist. Kiba begins helping a injury Naruto on his feet. They almost got lost until they finally found their way out of the cave. In a few minutes they reaches the ship and sails into the seas before save was engulfed by a final immense explosion of fire.

 **0o0o0**

"How is Naruto?" Nojiko asked.

"Although medics are not might specialty," Tenten says when she left Naruto's cabin. "I managed to treat is wounds to keep his injuries in getting worse. He'll be fine before we head back to base to get him a proper medical doctor."

"We barely got of there," says Kiba. "The crazy bastard rigged the whole to exploded."

"Not to mention Kabuto got away," Shikamaru says disappointedly.

"What's matter is we survived," says Kurama. "And what's matter is getting in contact with Vice Admiral Jiraiya. He needs to be informed of what Orochimaru is up too."

"You mean like Operation Fire From Heaven?" Shino questioned the fox marine."

"I'm sorry, but who are you again," Kiba interrupted, looked annoyed.

"Like I says," fox says. "My name is Warrant Officer Kurama of the Marines. And I need to get in contact with Vice Admiral Jiraiya to informed him of Operation Fire From Heaven. This is serious!"

"How serious?" Chōji asked.

"Serious enough to be a threat to the whole world," Kurama told them. "After Orochimaru disappeared when he lost his title as Shichibukai, Vice Admiral Jiraiya discovered that Orochimaru had stolen several blueprints from the world government's most brilliant scientist Dr. Vegapunk."

"Vegapunk?" Nojiko asked with a confused look. "Who's that?"

"I heard about him," says Shino. "He is a leading scientist in the employment of the Marines. His work includes discovering the secrets and uses of seastone, the secrets of how Devil Fruit powers work, the co-discovery of the Lineage Factor and its applications, and various other scientific achievements that are said to be at least 500 years ahead of current technology."

"That's the one," says Kurama. "Vegapunk's blueprints that Orochimaru stolen were ideas of creating super weapons capable of mass destruction."

"So that Pacifista came from one of Vegapunk's blueprints?" Shikamaru confirmed.

"Right," says Kurama. "However, Orochimaru stolen something worse than the Pacifista blueprint. The drawing of a energized, orbital, satellite-based laser beam weapon."

"A What?" Kiba reacted with confusion.

"A super weapon capable of destroying major cities and counties across the world," Kurama explained more simply. "A weapon called the Hammer of Dawn."

"You're joking?" Tenten reacted with disbelief.

"Do I look like I'm joking," Kurama snapped at her. "Before I was capture I learn the truth of Operation Fire From heaven. Orochimaru had been busy creating over a dozen Hammer of Dawn satellite weapon, each capable of firing beam weapon hundred times greater than the beam weapon that Pacifista you fought. He's planning to sends them to space, to be positioned in the world's orbit and uses them against the World Government. If we don't act soon—the whole world will be destroyed."


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: The Power of the Sunpō Sunpō No Mi**

 **Marineford**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

Jiraiya, was pretty sure that this Monkey D. Luffy, the 30,000,000 Berries pirate from the East Blue Seas that was becoming such a rising star in the pirate world, was in fact Garp's grandson had declared his grandson. Who else has that smile so similar to Garp's. However, even knowing that hadn't led him any closer to solving the parentage mystery of Luffy. And he was similarly stuck with Naruto.

About the only thing he'd discovered during his occasional investigations was that neither Minato and Garp had any official record of having children. Garp he could imagine simply not bothering to fill out the form, but he couldn't understand why Minato wouldn't. After all, simply being named Minato's son would have made Naruto eligible for survival benefits upon his death.

In addition, it was a simple form that stood in stark contrast to the sea of red tape paperwork usually entailed. All you needed was the child's name, date of birth, parents' names, and a signature. Jiraiya was still going with the 'ignored the paperwork' theory for Garp. As for Minato, he had three theories.

The first theory was that he'd done it to protect Naruto from potential enemies he'd made during his career. Although that left the question of why Naruto had been raised in Minato's own village. It wasn't as if Minato's home was much of a secret.

So if anyone truly had borne him a grudge, it would have been child's play to locate the village and search for anything Minato held dear. Such a search probably wouldn't have had any trouble uncovering Naruto.

The second possibility was that he hadn't filled it out because he didn't want to reveal the mother. He could just imagine a steamy forbidden romance with a royal princess or an affair with married woman. That of course would be followed by a hidden pregnancy or a perhaps a faked stillbirth.

After which the baby was sent with Minato to hide his existence, or the fact that his blond hair and blue eyes couldn't possibly have come from woman's husband. It sounded like the perfect topic for one of his novels, but it wasn't at all the type of behavior he would attribute to Minato.

Minato was always been too respectful and humble. He was the type who would have insisted on marrying before even considering doing the deed. No, that theory was probably just wishful thinking on his part.

The final option was that he had filled out the form, but it had been removed from the records after the fact. Perhaps denying his son the funding as a final punishment for Minato's actions just prior to his death. Although none of these theories explained why Minato had never said anything about a son to him in the first place.

It was when the sound of a Den Den Mushi interrupted Jiraiya's thoughts. Picking it up he says "Hello?"

"Vice Admiral Jiraiya," a familiar voice from the other side of the Den Den Mushi speaks.

"Kurama?" Jiraiya reacted with surprise. For a moment, Jiraiya realizes he forgotten about Kurama.

He had sends the Fox Mink on mission to confirmed the facts that Orochimaru has returns. He heard a large amount of people around Gunsmith Island had mysteriously disappeared and his gut feeling tells him Orochimaru is involved.

After Orochimaru lost his title as member of Shichibukai he disappeared, and hadn't been seen in many years. It was when Jiraiya learns that Orochimaru had stolen several blueprints of Dr. Vegapunk, the World Govenremnt's most brilliant scientist. Knowing how dangerous Orochimaru is, Jiraiya knew that sooner or later Orochimaru will be back and when comes back he has sinister plan that will affect the whole world.

"Yes it's me?" Kurama replied.

What happened to you?" Jiraiya asked through the Den Den Mushi. "You hadn't contact me in several weeks?"

"I mess up," Kurama confessed. "I got capture and experimented on."

"Are you all right?" Jiraiya asked, his tone sounded worried.

"I'm fine thank you." Kurama responded. "It's not like I been torture before. Right now I'm with a group of marines who had been also investigating the same case I was. They're under the command of Minato's kid, Naruto."

"What?" Jiraiya reacted with shock. "Minato's kid is there?"

"He is," says Kurama. "He barely survived a fight with Kabuto. The rest of his crew nearly gotten wiped out by a Pacifista. They're under the command of Rear Admiral Kakashi of G-4 Base. They reporting to him of the situation."

"Oh really?" Jiraiya remarked in sarcasm. "Knowing Kakashi he's the type who takes his time…is there anything else you wanted to say."

"Yeah," Kurama finally begins. "Operation Fire From Heaven. Before I was capture, I discovered that Orochimaru has success in building himself an army of Pacifistas he ready to unleashed. He also build a dozen Hammer of Dawn satellite weapons and preparing to sends them to space to be in positioned in the planet's orbit."

"I was afraid of this," Jiraiya says with dread. "Do you have any idea where Orochimaru's base of operation is located?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Kurama replied disappointedly. "But worse part of all, Operation Fire From Heaven is schedule to begin soon."

"When?" Jiraiya asked. "When will it begins?"

"I don't know," Kurama told him. "I was caught before I can learn the schedule of the Operation."

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment before he finally says "Don't worried about that. I may have trusted informant who will gives me the details of where Orochimaru is. You get to G-4 Base and I'll meet you there with reinforcements—Over and out."

"Yes sir." Kurama responded.

 **0o0o0**

"What do you mean he's unavailable?" Naruto said angrily into the den den mushi.

But immediately he tried to calm himself, Kakashi's availability wasn't the fault of the man on the other end.

"Sorry," he apologized. "But is there someone else high ranking I can talk to? I have some important information regarding our mission."

"That won't be necessary," he answered. "The Rear Admiral said he would call you back shortly."

"I certainly hope so," Naruto replied in annoyance, setting the receiver down.

As soon as Naruto had been bandaged up, he'd wasted no time in heading into the dining area where they kept the den den mushi in an attempt to make his report. But it turned out there wasn't much point in rushing.

Currently, only Shino was in the room with him, as everyone else was out on the deck preparing for departure.

"So, now that you have your ship back, I guess we'll be parting ways," Naruto told him.

"Not necessarily," Shino replied. "If you'll permit me, I'd like to continue our cooperation until we've ascertained if Orochimaru is involved and fully resolved this matter."

"I take it you after the bounty on Orochimaru's head?" Naruto asked.

"Although 500,000,000 berries may be tempting," Shino says. "Money is secondary. I'm only doing this for Justice."

"So are we," says Naruto. "Yet if you're doing this for Justice why did you leave the marines to be a bounty hunter?"

Before Shino was about to answer, the others enters the room, interrupting them.

"Now that is over are you going straight to bed?" Tenten asked.

"Actually—" Naruto attempts to says something.

"Look Naruto," Tenten cuts him off. "We agreed that once you make your report to the Rear Admiral you would go straight to bed and rest. I may not be a doctor but I did the best I could do make sure your injuries don't get worse."

"She's right Naruto," Nojiko agreed. "Kabuto almost killed you."

"Yeah," Kiba agreed. "If you keep on getting stubborn we're going had drag you to bed ourselves. And you are in no position to fight us."

"All right all ready, you all win." Naruto reacted, giving up.

Just then Kurama enters the room and says "I just got in contact with Vice Admiral Jiraiya. He will be meeting with us at G-4 Base with reinforcements."

"That's good news," says Chōji'. "Is it going to be a special marine task force?"

"Yes," Kurama says. "I have a feeling that the Vice Admiral is going to selected special individuals with unique skills in hunting down Orochimaru."

"Does that mean we'll be part of that task force?" Naruto asked.

Kurama looked at Naruto, studying his injuries and says "I think the Vice Admiral will only picked combat experienced strong marine officers…not greenhorns."

"Hey we're not greenhorns!" Kiba protested.

"You all barely survived your encounter with the Pacifista." Kurama pointed out. "And Lieutenant Naruto here barely survived his fight with Kabuto. In other words you were lucky to be alive and if you think Vice Admiral Jiraiya is going to chooses you for his special task force, then you're mistaken."

"I admits my mistake," Naruto confessed. "I underestimated Kabuto. That's why it's never going to happened again!"

"That's not up to me," Kurama told him. "However, knowing Vice Admiral Jiraiya he would never let you be part of this mission if he sees your current condition. Even your dad would done the same thing."

Naruto looked surprise and asked "You knew my dad?"

"Yeah," Kurama says. "I was proud to serve under Admiral Minato D. Namikaze before his demise.

"Yes telling the truth," says Shikamaru. "I recognizes him as one of my saviors from long ago."

Saviors?" Chōji' repeated. "What do you mean by that?"

Shikamaru was quiet for a moment until he finally says "A couple of years ago...I was kidnapped by Orochimaru to be used for his twisted experiments."

This surprise everyone until Chōji' says "You never told me that Shikamaru?"

"You never told us either." says Kiba.

"It's not good memory I wants to recall," Shikamaru confessed. "The Horrors that I witness and I endure...it was thanks to Admiral Minato D. Namikaze and Warrant Officer Kurama that I survived that hell."

"It's that how you got your powers from?" Shino asked.

"Yeah," said Shikamaru. "This is the power of the Kage Kage no Mi. I have the ability to manifest and control shadows, as a tangible and physical form."

"Hold on a second," Tenten interrupted. "I heard about the Kage Kage no Mi. It's a devil fruit that was eaten by Shichibukai member, Gekko Moriah."

"Yeah, that's the one." said Shikamaru.

"But that shouldn't' be possible," Tenten says. "There is no such thing is two devil fruits with the same powers."

"I know," says Kurama. "Orochimaru created a Artificial Devil Fruit called the Duplicate Devil Fruit. I don't know how he did it, but he managed to created a clone version of the Kage Kage no Mi."

"Hold on...creating devil fruits...that's possible, right?"Chōji' reacted with shock.

"No it's not possible!" Kiba disagreed. "You can't created a devil fruit! According to devil fruit glossary book, when a Devil Fruit user dies, their ability is reborn into another similar fruit. Instead of growing from a plant, the ability simply regenerates inside another similar fruit."

"I thought that was impossible until I witness Shikamaru display the same kind of power Moriah uses long ago." Kurama told them.

"Did the blueprints of Dr. Vegapunk contain information of creating devil fruits was the one that Orochimaru stolen?" Naruto questioned the mink marine.

"Yes," said Kurama. "I had no doubt that Orochimaru is using the Duplicate Devil Fruit to built himself an army to support his Operation Fire from Heaven...and that's why we need to stop him."

 **0o0o0**

 **G-4**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

It took a several days for the ship to reach G-4 Base from Rabbit Island. Pulling into the dock of the G-5 base, Naruto was hoping being here in person would let him finally get in contact with the rear admiral. Naruto realized he owed the man a great deal for being so lenient on him. During the voyage he had been trying to get in contact with the Rear Admiral, but he hasn't responded to his calls. It wasn't fitting for an officer of his rank to be so irresponsible.

He was just about to hop off the ship and see if he could locate Kakashi when he heard the den den mushi go off.

"Are you kidding me," Naruto complained.

Going into the dining room, he lifted the receiver and called out a greeting.

"Ah, Naruto," the den den mushi said in Kakashi's voice. "You had something to report?"

"Yes," he answered. "But I admit that I was expecting to report it much sooner."

"Yeah about that," Kakashi replied, "I've been trying to call you back, but it seems our den den mushi was having problems. I think it must have been ill."

"Odd," Naruto answered suspiciously, "we called back twice after our first call and it seemed to work fine."

"Then I guess it was only having trouble sending," Kakashi suggested. "But at least it's working now. So what was the result of your mission?"

Naruto considered it far more likely that he'd forgotten to return their call until he'd heard the news they'd been sighted off the base. But he'd let the matter drop for now.

"We discovered who was behind those kidnappings," Naruto answered. "It was Orochimaru's first officer, Kabuto."

"I know that," said Kakashi. "I receives the news from Vice Admiral Jiraiya a couple of days ago. He's on his way here with selected marine officers to formed a task force against Orochimaru."

"A task force?" Naruto repeated.

"Yes,"said Kakashi. "The Vice Admiral will be in charge of task force, with me serving his second-in-command. They will be on their way in five days."

"Will we be part of the task force?" Naruto asked, hopefully.

"No, we're not." Shikamaru objected.

Turning to Shikamaru, Naruto asked "Says who?"

"Says me." Shikamaru responded. " We barely survived our mission on Rabbit Island. Plus you barely survived your fight with Kabuto, have you forgotten?"

"I hadn't forgotten." Naruto responded. "Which why I won't make the mistake of underestimating him again."

"Then you're a fool!" Shikamaru snapped at him. "Do you think Kabuto was anything like the pirates from the East Blue Sea? Why do you think Orochimaru made him his right-hand man? It's obvious to me, you're not ready for the Grand Line Pirates."

"Hey," Naruto angrily reacted. "I was born in the Grand Line and I know how to handle myself with Grand Line Pirates."

"I know that,"Shikamaru says. "But it seems like you wanted to killed yourself in order to redeemed your dad's name...not to mention your own crew."

Naruto for a moment was stun of what he just heard. Was Shikamaru right? Is that is purpose...killing himself in order to redeemed.

It was a half hour later, Naruto was in his room, looking at the wounds on his chest and stomach, that he receives from Kabuto. The wounds was denied proof of how much he overestimated himself and how much he underestimated his enemies. He thought he could handle Kabuto, but the man proved to be a faster and better fighter than he imagined, and Naruto nearly lost his life. He wanted to joined Vice Admiral Jiraiya's task force despite his embarrassed experience, until Shikamaru accused him of wanting to killed himself and his crew just to redeemed his father.

"I seems to recall your words correctly," a familiar voice spoken. "I do understand the risks involved. Yes being a marine can get me killed...am I right?"

Turning around, Naruto find himself face to face with Granny Biwako Sarutobi, the woman with her stern and lecture face which was the last thing in the world that he wants to face.

"You not really here are you?" Naruto asked, hoping she goes away.

"In your mind!" Biwako says.

"Why are you here?" Naruto questioned her.

"To see how much of a jackass you are."Biwako says. "You should never have left Leaf Island Naurto."

"I already told you Granny Biwako," Naruto snapped her. "It's my dream to be a marine."

"Then it's your dream to die as a marine officer, is that it?" Biwako challenged him on that subject.

"No!" Naruto shot back.

"I think it is," says Biwako. "I think you wanted me to buried you like I buried your father. Why else you went after Kabuto all by yourself?"

"I went after Kabuto because I have a job to do." said Naruto.

"You went after Kabuto because you thought he was another weak pirate to beat up like the ones in the East Blue."Biwako sneered at Naruto. "But you got your ass handed to you on a sliver plate. Face that facts."

"Naruto...who are you talking to?!"

Turning around, Naruto sees Tenten in room. Biwako was no longer in sight.

"Oh...just myself." he lied.

"Yourself?" Tenten repeated, looking confused.

"Yeah...myself!" Naruto says, trying to changed the subject. "I was...I was just beating myself up of how pathetic I was back on Rabbit Island."

"Are you recalling what Shikamaru says?" Tenten asked. "Look Naruto, nobody suspected we would run into Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man."

"No, Tenten," Naruto disagreed. "I got sloppy and cocky due of my experiences in the East Blue Sea. I should have trained hard when I arrived in the Grand Line. Garp and Zephyr would really be displeases if they saw how badly my fight was with Kabuto. Right now I need to trained more in order to get stronger before I meet with Kabuto the next time."

"Now that you mention about it," Tenten says. "Rear Admiral Kakashi wanted us all in the training yard."

"What for?" Naruto asked, looking confused.

"I don't know," she says. "He says something about helping us with our abilities. I think he read the report about your fight with Kabuto, the battle with the Pacifista, and the devil fruit I eaten."

Naruto was confused. Just what was the Rear Admiral planning? And what kind of training plan does he have in helping them with their abilities? He follow Tenten from his room, straight to the training yard. At the training yard, he found Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru , and Chōji' were there with the Rear Admiral. Also there was Shino and Nojiko.

"Shino? Nojiko? What are you two doing here?" Naruto asked.

"I invited them here Lieutenant," Kakashi told them. "Although they are not officially marines, they are part of your crew and the most important lesson of ship in sea is to make sure everyone is combat ready."

"Rear Admiral you says something about help us get very strong am I right?"Chōji' asked.

"That's right Chōji'," the Rear Admiral replied. "As you all should know, Vice Admiral Jiraiya will be arriving here within seven days which gives us plenty of time for me to trained you all. When I'm done with all of you, you'll abilities will boosted to top-notch, making you a match to a pirate worth 100,000,000 berries."

"Excuse me sir,"Shikamaru spoken up. "But in order to reach that kind of level of strength will requires great amount of time, like several months or a year of two."

"I know," said Kakashi. "Which is a good thing I have my devil fruit power to help you out."

"Devil Fruit power?" Kiba reacted.

It was without warning, a black spiralling void appeared behind the Rear Admiral. It extends in sixe, result of the environment around them changed in an instant. One moment they were standing in the middle of training yard of marine base. The next moment, they were standing in unexplained location, composed of an innumerable amount of randomly arranged and differently sized rectangular prisms amongst a dark and seemingly endless void.

"Where are we?" Chōji' reacted in shock as he observed the entire surroundings.

"I called this place Kamui,"Kakashi told them. "You see I had eaten the Sunpō Sunpō No Mi. I have ability to create, shape and manipulate dimensions.

"Dimensions?" Kiba repeated. "You mean like traveling to another universe or something?"

"I don't know about traveling to another universe Kiba," said Kakashi. "As you all can see, my powers allows me to transfer objects or people here for various things."

"Like what Rear Admiral?" Shikamaru asked.

"Well," Kakashi explained. "My powers allows me to uses this dimension for quick travel. For if I wanted to go to Marineford I can travel through Kamui to get there in a few seconds. In battle, I can uses my ability to teleport attacks directed to me, relocated allies to safely, and removed dangerous enemies off the scale."

"That's very interesting power Rear Admiral," said Shino. "Reminded me of the Terepōto Terepōto No Mi."

"The what?" Kiba repeated with a confused look.

"The Terepōto Terepōto No Mi," Shino repeated before explained "It's a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that gives the user the ability to teleport to anywhere in the world as long. I heard that it was the ability that makes Admiral Minato D. Namikaze famous."

"Hold on a second...your dad eaten the Terepōto Terepōto No Mi" Nojiko asked Naruto.

"Yeah," said Naruto. "My dad was a master of the Terepōto Terepōto No Mi. His powers is what earn him the nickname, Yellow Flash."

"That's correct," said Kakashi. "Thanks to the Terepōto Terepōto No Mi, Admiral Minato D. Namikaze was a force to be reckoned, feared and respected by both marines and pirates alike. His abilities were so fearsome, I heard that flee-on-sight orders were given to members of the Yonko pirates and their allies should they ever see him. But enough of that right now, for the real reason is to help boosts your training for mission Vice Admiral Jiraiya is planning."

"How is transferring to this dimension going help Rear Admiral," Naruto asked. "We won't had time when the Vice Admiral gets here."

"That's where you wrong Naruto," said Kakashi. "You sees it will take about seven days for Vice Admiral Jiraiya to get to G-4 Base. In this dimension, time and space moves differently back in their real world. In the real world a day will pass, yet it will equal to six months."

"You're joking?" Kiba reacted with shock. "You mean to tell me six months here equivalent to one day on the outside? Won't we aged?"

"Don't worried," said Kakashi. "I control this dimension. Nothing will aged unless I wanted. Seven days equals to three years and six months...enough time for you all to trained very hard and get very strong in an instant. Tenten, you can uses the chance to learn new abilities on the devil fruit you eaten. And Nojiko, you learn a couple of Rokushiki techniques in order to defend yourself whenever you're traveling with the crew."

"Really?" Nojiko reacted with excitement, turning to Naruto. "What about Naurto."

Naruto observed the whole Kamui Dimension. He has to admits, for a lazy and incompetent marine admiral, Kakashi has an impressive devil fruit power. With fruit so formidable, he was almost jealous of the Rear Admiral. Also, Kakashi is willing to uses his powers helps boots their training here. If what he says was true, then this maybe a good chance to not only trained to master the six powers of Rokushiki. But also learn news ways to uses his devil fruit powers. Seven days in the Kamui Dimension or three years and six months will be enough time before Vice Admiral Jiraiya arrived.

Turning to the others, Naruto says "Well I say...let's get to it."

 **Devil Fruit**

 **Sunpō Sunpō No Mi** **(Dimension Dimension Fruit)** **:** The Dimension Dimension Fruit is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit eaten by Kakashi Hatake. The fruit's powers gives him the ability to create, shape and manipulate dimensions, making the user a Dimension Human.

 **AN**

A couple of years ago, when I was watching Dragonball Z, Goku and the others uses the Room of Spirit and Time, a special dimension where the Z-Warriors train one year which equals one day outside. I originally wanted Kakashi to have a devil fruit that allows him to copy other devil fruit powers, but I decided to give him devil fruit powers based upon his Mangekyō devil fruit powers will allow Naruto and the other to become super strong and skilled fighters.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: Naruto D. Namikaze vs. Rock Lee**

 **G-4**

 **Paradise; Grand Line**

"Ok Nojiko…are you ready?" Naruto asked her.

"How many times do you have to say that Naruto?" Nojiko carps in annoyance. "I'm ready—let's get it on!"

Smiling, Naruto says "All right then! And just for kicks, I'm not going to hold anything back so don't you hold back anything as well— **" Rankyaku Technique: Shadow Rankyaku!"**

In an instant, Naruto fired a Rankyaku, directly at Nojiko's location. This technique is result of two Rankyaku strikes, are piled one onto another and thrown simultaneously. However, depending on the way it's used, it can prove its absolute efficiency. The trick is to somehow draw the enemy's attention towards the upper Rankyaku. Then, they have to deal with the path of the lower, unnoticed Rankyaku.

However, Nojiko notices both Rankyaku attacks, and quickly conduct a counter move.

 **"Kami-e Technique: Pierce Dodge!"** she shouted.

Nojiko's whole body moves in a watery and flexible manner, easily sliding between the two Rankyakus.

 **"Rankyaku Technique: Line!"** Nojiko responded. In an instant, Nojiko kick a Rankyaku straight ahead in a line towards Naruto. However, Naruto dodges the attack by splitting himself in twenty clones, all surrounding Nojiko.

 **"Kamisori Barrage!"** Naruto shouted. Naruto and all twenty clones uses Soru and Geppo in a zigzag motion in midair, allowing extremely fast movements in three dimensions. All of them were heading straight towards Nojiko in the center...

 **Kami-e Technique: Dancing Leaf of Death! "** she shouted.

With two Flintlock .44 Caliber 6-Shot Revolvers in hands, she perfectly fired at all attacking targets while moving in a fast, agile, evading manner. A top-notch expert in sniping and quick draw, Nojiko success in shooting all clones—saved for Naruto himself.

From the sidelines, everyone was watching Naruto and Nojiko. Many became impress of their abilities, especially Nojiko.

"I never knew Nojiko to be crack shot." said Choji.

"I helps hone her sniping skills while we were training in the Kamui Dimension," Tenten explained.

"Not to mention how much skilled a Rokushiki expert she is," said Kurama.

In the Kamui Dimension, Naruto has introduced Nojiko in several Rokushiki techniques. While Nojiko's training in Rokushiki is incomplete, she is very skillful in four of the six techniques of Rokushiki; Soru, Geppo, Kami-e, and Rankyaku. To compensate, Nojiko evaded enemy strikes carefully with Soru, Geppo, and Kami-e, for offense, along with slashing with Rankyaku. In addition of attacking Rankyaku, Nojiko also is a highly skilled sniper, thanks to training from Tenten. Armed with four Flintlock .44 Caliber 6 Shot Revolvers, she proved to be a top-notch in sniping and quick-draw, second only to Tenten.

"Who would have thought training in another dimension would help our training in fast track," said Kiba. "I'm so pump up I really can't wait to test my abilities on the next pirate that cross my path. I hope it strong pirate because I really don't want to waste my energies on weaklings."

Akamaru barked at Kiba and he replied "Yeah, yeah, I know. You pump up as well as Akamaru. I also can wait to see you in action as well."

"Who would have though the Rear Admiral's powers would be handy in our training," says Choji. "My abilities are not improved greatly in the last seven days."

"Exactly we trained three years and six months in the Kamui Dimension Choji," Shikamaru corrected him. "Strangely, even through spends years in the dimension, we didn't aged, not to mention the real world is much slower."

"Did you knew the Rear Admiral has power like that?" Tenten asked.

"No." said Shikamaru. "Rear Admiral Kakashi was assigned to this distant outpost due of his reputation of begin lazy and irresponsible. There was no record of him possessing a devil fruit powers, especially a fruit as fearsome like the Sunpō Sunpō No Mi."

"What gives you the idea the Sunpō Sunpō No Mi is fearsome?" Shino asked.

"Well," Shikamaru begin to explained. "I estimated that the Rear Admiral's powers granted him great advantage in both time and space. With that fruit's powers, Kakashi could uses it to go anywhere in an instant. Also, in combat he can become unbeatable, for he can combined his powers to overcome his enemies or easily removed major opponents from the battle in a unpredictable and destructive rate. A power that could rivals devil fruit abilities like the infamous pirate Whitebeard or the three marine Admirals; Aokiji, Akainu, and Kizaru."

"So if he Rear Admiral Kakashi's powers are considered as fearsome as Whitebeard and the three Admirals, why is he even here?" Kiba asked out of curiosity? He could uses his powers to take down major pirates, making a fast track to Admiralty?"

"That's an easy question kiba." Kakashi says, who appeared out of nowhere. "Similar to Mr. Shikamaru Nara here I'm too lazy to accomplish anything noteworthy."

Everyone sweat drop of what Kakashi just says.

"Ok Naruto and Nojiko," Kakashi calls out for the two of them to stops. "Enough training for now."

"Do we really have to?" Nojiko complained. "I'm just getting warm up."

"Maybe another time," says Kakashi. "Because Vice Admiral Jiraiya's ship is sighted, heading this way…and he's not alone."

 **0o0o0**

It took a few minutes for everyone to head to the harbors of G-4 Base. When they arrived, they were just in time to see Vice Admiral Jiraiya's ship almost arriving. Once the ship was docked, Vice Admiral Jiraiya set foot on land, follow by four marine officers. It didn't take long until Naruto, Tenten, and Kiba to recognizes

"Vice Admiral Jiraiya!" Kakashi replied, saluting to his superior officer.

"Rear Admiral Kakashi!" Jiraiya salute back. "At ease!"

"Thank you sir," said Kakashi. "Do we have what we need for Operation Snake Eater?"

"I do," said Jiraiya. "I'm sure you familiar with Rear Admiral Might Guy, Commodore Ain, Commodore Binz, and Captain Kurenai Yūhi."

"Kakashi…it's been a while." said the one known as Mighty Guy. He was a tall and well-muscled man with fair skin, a strong jawline, a somewhat large nose, and black hair. He is most noticeable for his shiny bowl-style haircut and thick eyebrows, which Naruto and the other finds it weird.

"Yeah Guy, it's been a while… how you been doing?" Kakashi replied.

"Oh I had been doing fine Kakashi, thank you." Guy says. "Who would have thought you be commanding a distant outpost here in the outlying of the great seas. I thought you would have been assigned in Marineford."

"Marineford is too noisy for me." Said Kakashi before tuning to the next marine officer. "It's nice see you all as well Ain, Binz, and Kurenai."

"Long time as well Kakashi." said Kurenai Yūhi. The marine captain appeared as a fair-skinned woman of slender build. She has long black untamed hair reaching her upper back, and very unique eyes that are red in color, with an additional ring in them. She wears make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eye shadow.

"Now that we are all here," Kakashi says. "Perhaps we can make preparations of the planning for Operation Snake Eater."

"Not yet Kakashi," says Jiraiya. "We need wait a little bit longer. Our Marine reserve forces will be arriving very soon."

"I still think it's big mistake bring them in this operation sir." Says Kurenai. "If the Fleet Admiral find about—"

"Relax Captain," says Jiraiya. "I only told Sengoku that I need form a special task force of certain individuals of my choosing. He never asked of the individuals I picked."

"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi asked out of curiosity.

"The Vice Admiral is bring in the EMD...the Extreme Marine Division." Ain told him.

"The Extreme Marine Division?" Tenten reacted with a shocked. "Is he crazy?"

"I think he is!" Kiba says, looking shocked. "If he's bring them in this operation, then he's getting serious in how handle."

"The last I heard those guys were grounded at G-14 Base by the Fleet Admiral." said Shikamaru.

"Who are the Extreme Marine Division?"Nojiko asked with a confused look on her face.

"The Extreme Marine Division was originally known as the 10th Division, considered a wastebasket for unwanted marines." Naruto explained to her.

"Unwanted marines?" Nojiko repeated.

"Marines that are notoriously known as the "Black Sheep of Marines or Pure Garbage of Justice"?" Kurama told her simply. "Most members of the Extreme Marine Division were once low-ranking criminals who were offer choice to joined the Marines or go to jail. Others were Marine soldiers or officers who blacklisted for repeated insubordination, troublemaking, misconduct, contravening, messiness, and disregard or destruction of public property.

"To most marine officers that follows "Absolute Justice"," Kurama continue. "They look down on them Extreme Marine Division embarrassment. However, if it wasn't for their reputation as begin one of the best fighting task force in the Marines, they would had been disbanded long ago. They were tough enough to fight powerful pirates that rivals the power of the Yonko or Shichibukai on their own."

"He's right about that!" Kiba says in agreement. "The EMD are no pushovers. My mom and sister told me that these guys took on the Big Mom Pirates all by themselves and lived to tell about it."

"How did you managed to convinces Fleet Admiral Sengoku to let you have the EMD?" Kakashi asked.

Jiraiya was quiet for a moment only responded with smile when Kakashi says "You didn't tell him, did you?"

"Sometimes it's easier to apologizes than it is to get permission?" Jiraiya says with a sly smile. "I only told Sengoku that I just need created a special task force of skilled and powerful fighters for Operation Snake Eater...I left out the part of using EMD."

"Speaking of skilled and powerful fighters for Operation Snake Eater," Might Guy speaks up. "Do you have any fighters in your unit Kakashi?"

"I do Guy," said Kakashi. "Naruto and crew. I ensure that they will be an effective assets for Operation Snake Eater."

"We're going up against Orochimaru Kakashi," said Kurenai. "The last thing we need is greenhorn rookies who will lasts seconds in battle."

"Hey!" Kiba reacted, looked offended. "We're not—"

"Kiba!" Kakashi interrupted. "I got this."

As Kiba kept quiet, Kakashi begun to explained "I understand from your point of view Kurenai. While Naruto and the others maybe green, I ensure that their abilities have been improved to meet up with the measurements of the Operation."

"Then how about we put that to a test of their abilities Kakashi," Might Guy says. "LEE!"

Coming out of the ship was a young marine officer. His appearance was similar to Mighty Guy, possessing shiny black hair, round eyes with protuberant lower eyelashes, and very thick eyebrows.

"You wish to see me Rear Admiral Guy?" Lee says.

"Yes Lee," Guy says. "But first says hello to Rear Admiral Kakashi."

Facing Kakashi, Lee says "Hello Rear Admiral Kakashi…it's been a long time."

"So goes for you Lieutenant Lee," Kakashi says before turning to Guy and says "I see.. you wanted to put Lee against my best is that it?"

"That's right," Guy says. "It will be like old times back when we were young. Remember how the two of us compete against one another to see who better!"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment until he says "Ok then…Naruto!"

"Sir!" Naruto responded.

"You'll be fighting Lee." Kakashi says. "Guy wants to put his best against my best, and you been handpicked."

"Naruto?" Lee repeated, looking surprise. "You're Naruto D. Namikaze?"

"That's my name." said Naruto. "Do we know each other."

"It's an honor to meet you," Lee says out in excitement, grabbing Naruto's hand and shaking it enthusiastically. "I heard so much about you!"

"Oh really? Naruto replied, managing to free his hand from Lee, stepping back from the energetic young man.

"Admiral Zephyr talks highly about you." Lee says, trying to shake Naruto hand again. "He's says that you were one of the best students he ever trained and believed that someday you will become a great inspiration of Justice!"

"I appreciate that." Naruto says, trying to keep Lee from touching him.

"And it will also be an honor to fight and defeat you." Lee says.

"Hold on there!" Kiba stops him there. "What makes you think you're going to beat Naruto. You aren't aware of the full measure of his abilities."

"And you hadn't seen the full measure of Lee's!" Guy counter back.

 **0o0o0**

It took a few minutes for everyone to gather again in the training yard. Everyone was in sidelines as they watch Naruto and Lee faces each other from opposites sides.

"So you practice the Rokushiki as well?" Naruto asked him, honestly a little intrigued now.

"No," Lee quickly answered. "We train our bodies to excel physically, rather than relying on simple tricks."

As hard as Naruto worked on the Rokushiki, having someone dismiss them like that didn't sit well with him.

"Well, I think I have to accept now to show you just how effective these 'simple tricks' can be," he answered. "Come at me whenever you're ready!"

"Then I will," Lee agreed, charging straight at him.

Lee was pretty fast, much faster than a normal human. However, Naruto could manage with his Soru so well he is able to stay ahead of him ten steps. Thanks to training in the Kamui Dimension, Naruto's skill in Soru has greatly enhanced to point, he is nearly at master level of Rokushiki.

Still, he remained cautious in case Lee was holding back to get him to let his guard down. But Lee did nothing to prevent Naruto from getting behind him and send him stumbling with a kick to the square of his back.

"That speed isn't half bad for a trick, is it?" Naruto taunted as he let Lee get back to his feet.

There next few exchanges didn't go any better for Lee, as Naruto's superior speed allowed him to all but toy with the other man. He was actually beginning to loose interest when he was startled by a shout from Guy.

"It's alright, Lee," he yelled. "I give you my permission."

"Great!" Lee yelled back.

Curious what they were planning, Naruto waited as Lee leaned over and rolled up his pant legs to remove something that was was wrapped around his legs. He then stood up and repeated the process with him arms. Finished, he held the objects out to his side and dropped them. Apparently Lee had been fighting him while wearing training weights. Naruto couldn't see how removing them would help, though. Their difference in speed had simply been too great.

Then a loud crash shook Naruto from his thoughts. He was utterly stunned to see large cracks on the earth and a cloud of dust shooting up from where Lee had just dropped the weights.

"Holy crap!" Nojiko reacted out loud.

"How much do those things weigh?" Kiba cried out in disbelief that matched Naruto's own.

"They weights about 20 tons." Mighty Guy revealed. "While there is no way in the world a normal human would able to moved fast and agile while wearing them on their legs, for Lee, he can easily move about them as if they were light weights to him. However there is also a side effects of his training, for as long he wears them his speeds and strength greatly boosts each moment."

"So you're saying removing those ankle weights boosts his abilities?" Tenten asked.

"It's great training," Lee replied enthusiastically. "Now to show Naruto here just how great it is."

And this attack was like night and day when compared to Lee's previous assaults. Naruto was only barely able to get out of the way in time. Although when he'd had a chance to gather his wits and get over the surprise he realized it wasn't quite as bad as he'd first feared.

If anything, he'd say he even had the slight edge in speed. This fight would be more interesting now, but Naruto could still handle it. So their fight quickly turned into what must have looked like a high speed game of tag. Naruto and Lee rocketed around each other, quickly changing directions and trying to find an opening to attack their opponent.

Naruto finally saw one as he feigned dashing in one direction only to stay where he was as Lee darted off in the direction Naruto had feigned moving. Taking the opportunity presented to him, Naruto charged off in an intercept course, coming up to Lee from behind and to the left.

However, instead of the collision he'd been anticipating, Lee almost seemed to dance to his right letting Naruto pass in front of him before aiming a punch of his own. Lee's blow grazed over Naruto's shoulder as Naruto ducked down into a roll to avoid the attack.

He only then realized what his mistake had been. Lee wasn't using Soru, he was just running really fast. Soru depended on kicking off the ground repeatedly in the blink of an eye to create bursts of speed. It did have a downside, however, in that the burst of speed tended to be pretty much in a straight line.

Since Lee was simply running, it allowed him much more flexibility in terms of altering course. And to top it all off, his simple running was nearly as fast as Naruto's best burst of speed. Granted not learning special techniques gave him more time to condition his body, but Naruto was almost terrified to think of the speeds Lee could reach if he ever mastered Soru himself.

And as it turned out, there was a second weakness to Soru that Lee was beginning to catch on to. In between the bursts of speed, there were points were Naruto was moving much slower as he prepared to use Soru again. And it was becoming clear that Lee was now focusing on these times to make his attacks.

This strategy was putting Naruto completely on the defensive. Yet even focused entirely on defense, he was still finding it very difficult to avoid his opponent's blows. But it was time to show him that Soru wasn't the only 'trick' he knew. Naruto had a lot more than just speed on his side.

Waiting for Lee's next attack, instead of dodging, Naruto activated his Tekkai, simply absorbing a quick jab to the back of his shoulder that Lee made as he went past.

Lee faltered a bit in surprise, and Naruto used that to grab the initiative, spinning around and sweeping Lee's legs out from underneath him, sending him falling toward the ground. But Lee simply turned in fall into a roll, jumping back to his feet and dusting himself off.

"That won't work on me," Lee told Naruto.

Naruto was confused. It's almost as if Lee suspected what he was up to. Just what does he mean by that?

But Naruto didn't sense anything from him as he moved to make his next attack. Lee must simply be trying to unsettle him.

So to prove Lee was wrong, Naruto reactivated his Tekkai at full strength, waiting for Lee as he ran straight for him. He stood perfectly still as Lee sent a fist right toward his gut, confident that it was a futile attack. So he was unprepared for the air to be forced from his lungs as Lee's fist forced it out.

The fist continued its course, sending Naruto flying backward to bounce off the ground a couple of times before he regained his senses enough to flip back to his feet and skid to a halt.

"Great job with the 'stand there and let him hit you' strategy," Kiba called out to him. "Always one of my favorites."

Ignoring Kiba's barb, he remained focused on his fight. After what Lee had just done to him, he was beginning to see a shred of logic behind dismissing the Rokushiki. After all, what was the point in training in Tekkai if your opponent instead spent his time building up his muscles so much that he could overcome it with pure force?

But Naruto was far from giving up. When Lee came at him again, Naruto jumped straight up in the air as high as he could. It was almost more than he'd hoped for when Lee leaped after him. He'd nearly reached the apex of his jump when Lee caught up to him.

However, rather than meet him in a midair fight, Naruto used Geppo to push off the air, sending Naruto away from Lee and back toward the ground. Naruto quickly landed and looked up to see Lee watching him. As well trained as Lee was, without Geppo he couldn't come down any faster than gravity would take him.

As Naruto began to dash around Lee's projected landing point, he was pleased to see that Lee was somewhat limited in how fast he could spin himself around in the air. Naruto found an opening shortly before Lee landed and jumped toward Lee's back.

Lee made a valiant effort to spin to face him as quickly as possible, but was unable to prepare a guard for Naruto's attack. Naruto sent his hand flying at Lee with his pointer finger extended outward. However, just before impact, he slowed his attack, instead just tapping Lee on chest.

Lee retaliated by finishing his midair spin to land a bone-jarring kick on Naruto's side, sending him crashing back to the earth. Seeing Lee land and begin sprinting toward his position, Naruto ignored the pain of his most recent bruising and got back to his feet. But Lee's rush was stopped as Guy blocked his path.

"I'm afraid this was your loss, Lee," he told his student.

"But Naruto barely touched me," Lee complained.

"And if it had been a real fight, his finger would have gone into your heart, killing you," Guy replied.

"I had no idea he had such a terrifying ability," Lee gasped.

"That technique is one of the Rokushiki," Guy informed him. "Remember it well for next time."

"I will," Lee promised, taking out a notebook, of all things, and scribbling in it. "Just let me write that down."

"It was a good fight," Naruto assured him, trying to be polite.

"Yes, but I'll win the next one," Lee vowed. "How about a rematch? I'm ready now."

Naruto's body protested the notion, telling him his already impressive collection of bruises was quite enough.

"It won't be any different," Tenten "interjected. "He didn't even use his devil fruit power in that fight."

"You have a devil fruit power and you didn't use it?" Lee asked him curiously.

"It was supposed to be an unarmed combat match," Naruto replied. "And you weren't using a power, so I didn't think it would be fair to use one."

"That may be true," said Guy. "But at least Lee didn't uses Busoshoku Haki on you. You would have been seriously hurt."

"Busoshoku Haki?" Naruto responded, looking confused. "What's Busoshoku Haki?"

"I think we have enough excitement for now." Kakashi says, stepping in.

"I agreed," says Jiraiya. "Maybe enough time the two of you would have it at again.

"I hope so too!" Lee declared loudly before facing Naruto. "From this day forward, I'm going to declare you my eternal rival."

"This is a great moment indeed!" Guy declared proudly. "But I'm afraid we must cut it short. Come, Lee we have work to do."

"Of course," Lee replied.

Wasting no time, Lee ran over to his weights and quickly put them back on.

"Isn't that nice?" Kiba snickered. "You got yourself a rival."

"Shut up!" Naruto responded.

 **AN**

The EMD, Extreme Marine Division is based upon ECW, Extreme Championships Wrestling. Although they won't joined Naruto's crew, they're destined to be his future allies, similar as the Straw Hat Pirates' allies.

The pacifista that Naruto's crew has fought was a weaker version to the pacifista that the Straw Hat Pirates fought, despite how strong and tough a foe it is. Also, it was Kurama that finished the pacifista using Haki. I was explained that later in future chapters later on.


End file.
